


Heartline

by mandyem92



Series: Spencer-Sophia Story [3]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Case Fic, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Oral Sex, Phone Sex, Sequel, Sexual Content, boyfriend reid, murder case, sherlock and watson the cats, someone help me with tagging, spencer-sophia storyline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-27
Updated: 2016-05-02
Packaged: 2018-06-04 22:03:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 22,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6677047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mandyem92/pseuds/mandyem92
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When doctors start dying, the BAU travels to Maine to investigate. When hearts and heart-strings are being pulled everyone you once trusted becomes a suspect. Will the BAU figure out who's pulling the strings before one of them falls victim? Sophia/Reid series</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

_**5:30pm, Thursday – Oxford County, Maine** _

Suzanne Wegner was 5' 1" but carried herself like she was a towering 6' tall. She always had a confident look in her eyes that, combined with her proud and self-assured walked makes her a force to be reckoned with when it came to business matters. However, she prided herself in being able to leave that confidence in the office and come across as soft and approachable in the examining room. Her sweet smile gave her the reputation of being the best cardiologist for infants; she could instantly comfort any young or new mother.

She finished filling out her report for her last patient and was more than ready to call it a night. She walked into the metal-walled waiting room and past the reception desk, giving a little wave. "Have a good night, Grace. Don't stay up all night studying in here." She laughed at the fake scowl the young college student shot back at her.

"Trust me, Dr. Wegner, I'm going home as soon as I finish these last file" Grace answered, running her fingers through her straightened hair to get it out of her face.

"In that case, don't stay up all night studying at home." With that Suzanne pushed the office door open, stepping into the tiled hallway of the large building. Her heels clicked loudly down the powder blue hallway, a few lights still shining from inside the other office spaces in the hallway. She pulled her purse higher up on her shoulder before pushing the huge glass doors open and stepping into the cold and rainy evening.

She grabbed her tan trench coat, pulling it tighter against her body, truly regretting not grabbing a heavier jacket. She dug through her purse till her numb fingers wrapped around her cell-phone. She dialed it quickly and held it between her shoulder and ear as she reached back into her purse to dig around for her keys. As she unlocked the doors of her car the person on the other end picked up.

"Hey honey. I'm leaving work now…I know…will do…see you in a bit...Love you too. Bye." She hung up and began driving out of the parking lot.

After driving for ten minutes she ended up on a large stretch of road that was bordered on one side by a large and dense forest and on the other side, empty fields that were backed by more trees. She turned throw a particularly sharp bend and felt her car jolt to the right.

"Crap" she muttered as she looked in her side-mirror and caught a glimpse of an obviously flat back tire. "You have got to be kidding me."

She pulled off to the side of the road and threw her hazards on. She popped the trunk and climbed out of the car. She stomped her foot and let out a litany of curses when the fact that she had no spare tire became apparent to her. She pushed her wet hair out of the face and climbed back into the front seat. She quickly turned on the car, cranking up the heat as high as it could go. The minute or two she had spent outside had already chilled her to the bone and thoroughly soaked her hair. She pulled out her phone from her pocket but quickly threw it into the passenger seat, letting her head drop against the head-rest. No signal.

"Shit…Shit, shit, shit!" She muttered, closing her eyes for a few minutes to collect herself. She opened her eyes just in time to see a pair of headlights reflecting in her rearview mirror. For a split second she thought about locking her doors but when she looked back in her side-mirror she smiled and rolled her window down. "Just my luck!" She said out the window as the figure smiled back at her, now standing in front of her door.

_**10:30PM, Thursday – Oxford County, Maine** _

Jonah Nasser paced paced back and forth in his living-room, unsure of what to do. He had called two hours ago and been told to wait some more but waiting was the one thing he couldn't do.

They told him it was probably nothing he knew something was wrong. Something had to be wrong. Something had to be wrong because here he was, in his quiet apartment, all alone instead of with her. eaten, and in the fridge, not cold and sitting forgotten on the kitchen table. By now he was supposed to be lounging on his bed, not panicking in a way he never imagined.

He couldn't wait any longer and grabbed the phone off the couch where he had thrown it in frustration the last time. He waited for someone on the other line to pick up. As soon as they did he rushed to get the words out.

"I'd like to report a missing person…yes…my fiancé, Suzanne Wegner."


	2. Chapter Two

_**12:00PM, Friday – BAU Office** _

Reid sat at his desk, four unfinished files sat on his desk. He leaned back in his chair, a cup of coffee hugged tightly in his hands. He smiled to himself as the aroma lifted from the cup, the sweetness from the sugar filling his head. He relished in the warmth that soaked into his hands and travelled up his arms. He finally brought it to his lips and took a long sip for the sugary mixture, letting out a happy sigh as the last of the coffee slipped past his tongue.

"You're enjoying that cup way too much. Poor Sophia would be jealous." Prentiss said from her desk with a laugh. She watched as he took another sip of the syrup-like treasure that sat in his absurdly large coffee cup. She laughed as he closed his eyes in pleasure and let out another sigh.

"Ha. Ha. Ha. Don't worry, Sophia has a love-affair with coffee as well." He finally said after the warmth reached his chest, warming his whole body.

"Oooh, so it's some sort of threesome. Yum." She wiggled her eyebrows and bit down on the back of her pen. Reid scrunched his nose at the thought of scolding hot coffee spilling over his bed.

"Who's having a threesome and why wasn't I invited?" Garcia asked as she strutted into the bullpen from her office in one of her usual bright outfits and matching heels.

"Reid, Sophia and coffee. And it would be a foursome if you joined; unless you dare try to replace their beloved caffeinated beverage."

"Oh." Garcia said with a pout. "And here you got all my hopes and dreams up for nothing 187. And Emily, I'm smart enough to know to never get in-between Reid and his coffee." She gave Reid a quick shove and a wink.

Reid muttered something undistinguishable and practically jumped out of chair when he saw Morgan coming down from his office.

"Are you ready to go?" Morgan asked with a smile, swinging his keys around on his finger.

"Ooh! Where are you guys going?" Prentiss asked, grabbing JJ and Garcia's attention.

"Nowhere!" Reid answered quickly before Morgan could even open his mouth. He grabbed his jacket and pushed his arms through it as quickly as he could.

"Pretty boy, you should tell them." Morgan said with a smirk. He knew exactly what he was getting himself into and was perfectly fine with it. He always got enjoyment out of pissing off Reid.

"No!" Reid whined like a child.

"They'd be better at this than me." He said as he put his jacket on, Reid standing unnecessarily close, desperately trying to rush him. Reid shot daggers in Morgan's direction though Morgan found his look more hilarious than threatening.

"If I take one I have to invite all three." Reid stated in desperation and frustration.

Morgan stopped and thought for a split second. "…Good point."

"What on earth are you guys talking about?" Garcia asked as she watched their interaction.

"Nothing baby girl." Morgan said with a smile.

Garcia scuffed. "You know, normally Reid is the one who's bad at lying. Just saying."

Morgan let out a loud laugh. "We'll be back in an hour." With that he and Reid left the BAU, leaving the girls to discuss what could possibly be going on.


	3. Chapter Three

_**5:30pm, Friday – Reid's apartment** _

Reid opened the apartment door, gripping his messenger bag tightly to his body. He was quickly assaulted by Sherlock who darted to his side, jumping up and putting his paws on his leg.

"Hey there buddy." Reid reached down and scratched behind Sherlock's ears, the cat purring in appreciation. Watson meowed from on the back of the couch, asking for attention. Reid walked over and ran his hand down Watson's spine which arched in approval. Watson quickly leapt into Reid's arms biting and swatting at his collar. "Don't ruin another of my dress-shirts." Reid warned with humor in his voice. Watson stopped and tilted his head, looking at Reid as if daring him to punish him.

"Hey Sophia" Reid yelled, waiting for a response.

"In the bedroom!" A muffled voice responded from behind the bedroom door.

"Did the boys get dinner?" Reid asked loudly as he looked down at Watson. They both started meowing loudly at the recognition of the word. "Nevermind, they answered for me…" Reid rolled his eyes as Watson pulled harder on his collar. He let go of Watson and watched as the cat landed gracefully on the floor at his feet.

After scooping out some food and placing in the two bowls by the closet door he heard more pattering and annoyed meows at his feet; he was in the way and they weren't having any of that. Sherlock promptly sat on Reid's foot so he could reach his bowl while Watson swat at his till it slide through Reid's feet and was finally freed.

"You boys need to learn some manners." He shook his head and walked over to the office door. He threw his bag under the desk and left the room, closing the door softly behind him. He opened the bedroom door and smiled. Sophia sat on the bed, her back pressed up against the headboard. Her knees were drawn close to her chest, a book resting on her knees.

"What book are you reading?" He asked, toeing off his shoes and walking towards the bed.

"Omnivores Dilemma…research for that damn article that I've been working on all week. Heather wants me to use this book instead of a more useful book. I chose a more useful book but it's not as popular as this damn book."

Reid laughed and grabbed the book off her lap, throwing it onto the armchair across the room. He sat down next to Sophia and grabbed her feet, yanking her down gently so she was laying flat against the mattress.

"Spencer!" She said with a squeal and a laugh. Reid smiled broadly as he hovered over her, his hands placed on either side of her face, holding his weight off of her.

"I missed you today." Reid whispered huskily as he leaned closer to her face. He placed a soft kiss lips before capturing her lower lip between his teeth, nibbling on it softly till he heard a moan escape from Sophia's parted lips.

"You hungry?" Spencer asked as he let go of her lip, smiling down at her with mischievous eyes.

"For you? Yes." Sophia answered in all seriousness.

Reid laughed louder, kissing her on the cheek. "Let's go out for dinner tonight" he said as he sat up on his knees, still straddling Sophia.

"Hell no! You don't get me hot and bothered and then suggest we eat food…unless you got some whip cream…or chocolate sauce and you're my plate." She grabbed Reid's tie and pulled him back down into a rough kiss.

He ran his tongue over her bottom lip and Sophia happily opened her mouth, hungrily grabbing the back of Reid's head to pull him closer. She fought Reid for any semblance of control, though she knew she would give in to him in the end.

When the need for air became too much Reid quickly moved to her ear, running his tongue along the edge, smiling as he felt Sophia's body quiver with excitement.

He then moved to her collar bone, sucking and nipping at the pale, sensitive skin. Sophia unconsciously craned her neck, giving Reid more access. He bit down roughly, smiling when he heard a gasp that escaped from Sophia's mouth. "Fuck!" He ran his tongue across the reddened spot and then puffed cold air across it, always egged on when he could get her to curse.

"Tease" Sophia said breathlessly and wrapped her legs around Reid's waist, pulling his lower half down to meet her. She heard Reid growl as their bodies hit, his arousal blatant against her jeans. He began rutting slowly against her.

"Oh God…" She thrust her hips upwards to meet his, her head thrown back in bliss. She whined when the friction was sudden lost as Reid sat on his knees, pulling his shirt off.

Sophia leaned up on her elbows, licking her lips in approval. She smiled and sat up farther, running her fingers over the defining lines on his stomach, sighing happily. Their lips met again, and Reid pressed his entire body flat against Sophia's, pushing them both back down onto the mattress.

Sophia rolled them over and straddled his lap. She smirked down at him and rocked her hips back and forth deliberately slow, creating a wonderful friction. Reid couldn't suppress the groan that escaped his lips as his pants grew tighter. He threw his head back as she began moving faster, a growl building in his throat from the friction it was causing. "Damn it Sophia." He groaned out, his voice suddenly lower than it remembered it being.

She leaned forward and latched onto his neck, nibbling at the white skin. Her fingers moved down, making quick work with the button on his jeans. As soon as she got the zipper down she stopped to grab her own shirt and pulled it off. Reid reached forward to unhook her bra, smiling up at her body in appreciation.

He splayed his hand across her stomach, feeling the smooth skin under his fingertips. He watched with fascination as her chest heaved up and down from her wanton panting. "So beautiful," he muttered as his gaze moved down to the slight curve at her waist. He traced his fingers over her hot skin, just above her jeans. He splayed his hands flat against her waist, tightening his grip slowly. He could see the muscles of her stomach flexing as she began rocking against him again, trying to grab his attention.

Finally pulled from his lustful haze, Reid reached forward, kneaded her breasts slowly, running his fingers lightly across the sensitive skin. Her breath came in quick, hot gasps until Reid's phone began ringing from inside his pants pocket.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Sophia huffed as she rolled off Reid to let him grab his phone. He cleared his throat in an attempt to get the gravel out of his throat, and answered it.

"Reid."

"We got a case." JJ said sadly into the phone. "Be at the airstrip in an hour." With that she hung up and Reid let out a heavy sigh.

"Case? I thought you guys were promised the weekend off?" Sophia asked as she pulled herself up slightly, resting her bare back against the headboard.

"Yeah, well promises don't mean much to the government. And we're apparently going out-of-state, too." Reid said, dropping his head low. "So much for dinner."

"Yeah, and dessert…" Sophia added with a pretend scowl. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Reid's neck, pulling him closer and pressing their bare chests together. She kissed him slowly at first, the kiss quickly becoming passionate and full of urgency. Reid's grip on Sophia's hips tightened as he pushed his body closer to hers.

"Be safe." She whispered into Reid's lips as she kissed him once more. "I'll be waiting for that dinner and dessert." She smiled and winked at him, resting her forehead against Reid's.

"I'll text you when I know where we're actually heading. And I'll make sure to go to the store before I come home." Reid laughed and pulled himself off the bed, buttoning his pants and grabbing his shirt, walking towards the closet to retrieve his go-bag.


	4. Chapter Four

**_6:00pm, Friday – Airplane going to Maine_ **

Reid walked towards the plane, a frown plastered on his face. His go-bag was gripped a little too tightly in his hand and his steps were almost as loud as Morgan's.

"Why the long face?" Prentiss asked as Reid walked through the threshold of the plane, settling in on one of the chairs by the table.

"This case came at literally THE WORST time possible."

"187, is there ever a GOOD time for a case?" Garcia said with a tilt of the head. She sat down on the couch a few cushions away from Hotch.

Reid huffed and leaned forward in his seat, grabbing the file from Hotch's outstretched arm.

"What are you doing here, Garcia?" He asked, flipping open the file.

"We're heading to Oxford County, Maine. They station isn't exactly...up-to-date technologically. I told the Big Man here that it would be easier for me to just be there than you guys having to constantly contact me." Garcia smiled and Reid simply shrugged. As the plane began to taxi down the runway Morgan sat down across from Reid.

"You didn't get a chance to..?" Morgan asked resting his elbows on the table.

"Is that a serious question? What do you think?" Reid answered hotly. He looked up and caught the sympathetic look on Morgan's face. He shrugged his shoulders to dismiss the conversation. "Whatever. I guess it's a good thing I didn't; it would have kind of put a damper on the mood if I had to run seconds later."

"Sooo…" JJ started as the plane started raising. "What exactly are you two hiding from the rest of us? Not another girlfriend, right?" JJ said with a wiggle of her eyebrow.

Morgan snickered.

"Shut up Morgan," Reid sneered back quietly, wanting to end the conversation immediately.

"Oh Pretty boy. You and your secrets." Morgan said with a laugh as he went back to his file.

Reid sank into his seat and dropped the open file onto his face, hoping to cover up the blush that was rising up his face.

"I told you they'd catch on; they're women." Morgan muttered with a shake of his head.

"What does that mean!?" JJ shrieked in mock insult.

"You guys have a sixth sense for these sorts of things."

"'These sorts of things?' What are you guys hiding?" Prentiss asked from her seat, itching for the plane to level out so she could scoot closer and join the conversation.

"We have a case to work." Hotch warned seriously.

"Tell that to Reid. If he'd just stop being so secretive than the girls could focus on the case at hand." Morgan said with a smile.

"If I show them, that's all they'll talk about! They'll keep asking to see it and ask what my plan is. They'll interrogate me; Emily's scary when she interrogates." Reid pouted.

All of a sudden Hotch let out a little laugh and he nudged Rossi. Leaning over he whispered something into Rossi's ear. Rossi then laughed and nodded at Hotch.

"Do not tell me you guys already figured it out?!" Reid asked dumbfounded.

"Of course Rossi did! The poor man had to deal with this more than once. That's not something you forget." Morgan said as he shoved Rossi's shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah whatever." Rossi muttered.

"Congratulations Reid." Hotch said before glancing down at the file.

"What do you mean Rossi did it more than once? And why are you con-OH MY GOD!" JJ screamed. The seat-belt light blinked off, accompanied by a loud DING.

Prentiss looked more confused, staring intently at Rossi. JJ was giggling and ran over to Reid.

"What?! What are we missing!?" Garcia asked.

"Oh, for the love of god! Reid's going to propose!" Rossi finally said with a huff, dropping his file dramatically on the table. "Morgan and Reid went out to buy the ring at lunch. Geez. You women need to get with the program." He shook his head in disappointment.

Reid let out a yelp when Garcia jumped from her seat and ran to sit next to him, wrapping her arms around him, Prentiss close behind her. "Show. Now. We know you got it." Garcia demanded.

"Hooootch…" Reid whined as he looked at his boss over Garcia's shoulder, looking for a rescue.

"Reid, they'll be bugging you the whole case. We need to focus on the case, not the ring."

Reid huffed and opened his messenger bag. He pulled out a black velvet box and handed it to JJ, who was now sitting between Prentiss and Garcia. Hotch and Rossi leaned forward in their chairs, eager to see the ring, though they'd never admit it. Morgan sat back and smiled. He reached over and ruffled Reid's hair, earning his a slap from the younger man.

In the box was a white-gold ring. It had three radiant-cut diamonds, a large one in the center and two smaller ones on either side. On the band was engraved an elegantly swirled pattern.

"Oh…my…god…" The girls mumbled.

"That's a $2,500 oh-my-god-ring." Morgan said with a little chuckle.

"Damn it Morgan!" Reid said angrily.

"25!" JJ exclaimed loudly. "Damn Reid, where are you coming up with that kind of money?" She whispered in astonishment.

Reid dropped his head on the table, officially defeated. He looked back at Hotch, pleading to be saved. Hotch cleared his throat, grabbing the girl's attention, all of who quickly scurried back to their original seats.


	5. Chapter Five

**_6:10pm, Friday – Airplane going towards Maine_ **

"So what's waiting for us in Maine?"

"As of last night at 10:30pm, we have three dead, Dr. Scott Lattimer, Dr. Jenna-Lynn Matthews, and Dr. Gregory Cattleman and one missing, Dr. Suzanne Wegner. Going based off of the first three victims, it's safe to say that Dr. Wegner is already dead."

Hotch stopped for a second, glancing around to make sure everyone was focused.

"All four of our victims were Cardiologists, specializing in Pediatric surgery. Dr. Lattimer was found first; he was stabbed 15 times in his chest. His body was dumped in the White Mountain National Forest. A week later Dr. Matthews was found five miles west of Dr. Lattimer's body with 15 stab wounds. A week after her, Dr. Cattleman was found in the forest, three miles south of Dr. Matthews' body with the same wounds."

"When were they all reported missing?" Reid asked, finally sitting up in his seat.

"All four doctors were last seen leaving their office between 5:30pm and 6:30pm. Dr. Lattimer and Dr. Wegner both contacted their significant other directly after leaving work and both were reported missing by the end of the night. Dr. Matthews and Dr. Cattleman were reported missing the next morning when they did not show up for work."

"Any signs of restraints or defensive wounds?" Morgan asked, flipping to the end of the file to the autopsy reports.

"Dr. Lattimer has two slashes on his forearms but he is the only."

"Were they stabbed from behind or the front?" Prentiss interjected.

"From the front and the stabs ranged across the entire chest."

Rossi spoke up next, "So we're looking for a white male, mid-thirties, who is physically strong enough to overpower his victims."

"We'll be landing in two hours. It's too late to head to the station and start so we'll be heading straight to the hotel. We'll be doubling up; Reid and Morgan, Rossi and I, JJ, Prentiss and Garcia." Everyone nodded quickly, dropping their heads to read the thick files in front of them, or in Reid's case, re-read for a third time.


	6. Chapter Six

_**8:00pm, Friday – Hotel in Maine** _

As soon as they entered the hotel the girls rushed to their room. Garcia had already stated that some serious girl time was necessary and that an 8:00pm bedtime was "so not gonna happen." Rossi stated that he was going to the hotel bar for some food while Hotch was determined to talk to Jack before Jessica put him to bed.

When Morgan entered his room he grabbed the remote and flopped down on the first bed, letting his body bounce slightly. He let out a content sigh and stopped flipping through the channels when he landed on some basketball game.

Reid walked past him to the small round table in the corner of the room. He sat down in the armchair and dropped the stack of files in front of him, one for each of the four victims. He glanced down at his watch before opening the file on the newest, and most likely dead, victim; Suzanne Wegner. When he opened the file he was greeted by the picture of a young woman with a heart-shaped face that was framed by long, pin-straight blonde hair. She was smiling, showing off a set of perfect, teeth.

"You're not going to waste these few precious moments of down-time on the case, are you?" Morgan asked, pulling Reid away from the file.

"We're working, not vacationing."

"You've read the case a hundred times over. You know everything that's in that file. Literally. Relax or get some much needed sleep. God only knows how much sleep we'll get on this case."

"I will, in" Reid paused and glanced back down at his watch, "exactly fifty minutes."

Morgan quirked his eyebrows at Reid in confusion. "And what exactly is happening in fifty minutes?" Morgan could see the blush spreading down Reid's cheeks down his neck.

"Sophia will be home at nine." Reid tucked a loss strand of hair behind his ear and Morgan let out a laugh.

"I have to ask, Reid. Are you calling because you want to or because she wants you to? Please don't tell me you're whipped already."

"Whipped?" Reid got up from the table and walked over to the other bed, tucking his legs beneath him before settling down. He was facing Morgan who had sat up to look at him.

"Yeah, whipped." Morgan paused, looking for some sign of recognition in Reid's eyes. When he saw none, he hung his head, giving it a shake. "'Whipped' means that you've been seriously domesticated. You'll do anything for her at the drop of a hat. You'll stop everything you're doing just to do something for her, even if you don't want to."

"I love Sophia, of course I'd do anything for her." Reid still looked confused and a little taken aback by Morgan's description.

Morgan soon realized and started to back-pedal. "No, that's not what I mean. You know, the guys who will turn off the football game and let their chick turn on some reality TV show or the guys who hold their girls' purses at the mall." Reid shook his head in understanding, squinting slightly in thought.

"I don't think I'm…whipped. I mean, I don't know. But in reference to your first question, I want to call Sophia. She knows that I can't always call her during cases."

Morgan laughed. "Even if you were whipped Reid, I have a feeling you wouldn't mind."

"I'm not going to hold her purse for her." Reid deadpanned. Morgan laughed again at Reid who quickly joined in.


	7. Chapter Seven

_**9:00pm – Morgan and Reid's hotel room** _

Reid dialed and quickly put the phone up to his ear, leaning back against the headboard. Morgan watched him out of the corner of his eye, pretending to be interested in the football he had muted. He told himself that he muted it to be considerate of Reid but really, he was more interested in listening in on their conversation. Friendly curiosity. Morgan wasn't nosy; that was Garcia's turf. Morgan was just…curious…and a little nosy.

"Hey babe," Reid said, smiling largely. Suddenly Morgan simply couldn't help himself.

"Hi Sophia!" Morgan screamed, moving over to sit next to Reid.

"Yeah, that was Morgan...haha, I don't think he'd appreciate that."

"Appreciate what?" When Reid ignored him Morgan grabbed the phone out of Reid's hand.

"Hey! Give it back, Morgan!" Reid yelped, jumping up from his bed.

"Hey Sophia!" Morgan said into the phone. He stood up on his bed, holding the phone out of the way of Reid's arms.

"Hey Derek. How's everything going?" Sophia laughed as she heard Reid yelling in the background about murdering Morgan and hiding the body if he didn't get his phone back.

"Tell Spencer I can hear him and to stop acting like a child."

Reid stopped talking instantly, his jaw falling slack in disbelief.

He finally pulled himself out of his stupor, "You've turned my girlfriend against me!" He yelled, throwing his hands in be air to admit defeat.

"How's life treating you Sophia?" Morgan asked, lying down on the bed. He looked over at Reid who was lying on his back, his arm thrown over his eyes.

"Eh, it's okay. I already miss having Spencer at home...and the boys do too."

Morgan smiled, "he missed you too. A lot actually." Reid shot up in bed, shooting Morgan a pleading look. "In fact you should see him, he's giving me that pathetic pout of his in some sad attempt to get the phone back from me."

Reid could hear Sophia laugh over the phone and smiled at the noise. "I always give in when he gives me those puppy eyes." She said softly into the phone.

"Please don't tell me he uses them to get sex. I will never be able to look at pretty boy the same way if I find out he pouts for sex."

Sophia laughed louder and Reid's whole face turned a bright red. "No. He hasn't used it…yet."

Morgan nodded in approval then held the phone away from his ear. "I'll give you the phone if you promise to answer all my questions once you're off the phone. No avoidance."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just give me the phone; I want to talk to my girlfriend!" Reid huffed out in annoyance.

"Okay Sophia, I'll let you go back to Reid, I've got to prepare my interrogation questions for your boy."

"Go easy on your pretty boy. And Derek? Make sure my Spencer stays safe and doesn't do anything stupid."

"Will do Sophia. Have a good night."

"Good night Derek. Stay safe too." Morgan handed the phone over to Reid and grabbed his pajamas from his go-bag.

"Enjoy your alone time with Sophia. I'm taking a shower. Just don't be too loud." Morgan winked and closed the bathroom door.

"Sorry about that Sophia." Reid muttered as he laid back in the bed, relaxing into the bed.

"I like Derek. He's funny and he seems to really care about you."

"Yeah, he picks on me every chance he gets."

"He does it with love." There was a long pause before Sophia started again. "I miss you already." She said quietly. "I was getting real used to you being in bed every night."

"I miss you too." Reid said quietly, his disappointment apparent.

"How long does Derek take in the shower?" Reid laughed at the flirtatious voice over the phone.

"Why? What are you suggesting Miss Maxwell?"

"Well, you know, I'm lying here, all alone, in your favorite sweatpants and your FBI t-shirt. And I'm missing my doctor..." Reid could hear the hint of mischief and arousal in her voice. He groaned and flopped down onto the bed.

"Case Sophia." He said through gritted teeth. He wanted to do nothing than give in to Sophia. Oh boy did he really want to. But as inviting phone sex was to him the possibility of someone on his team barging in killed the mood completely.

"I know. Doesn't mean I can't have fun. I can do whatever I want." He could hear the bed shift and material rub against the phone.

"Sophia..." Reid warned though his hand was already traveling to his blatant arousal.

"Hm?" She whispered sweetly before a pleasurable and breathy moan escaped her lips.

"Fuck!" Reid heaved out in a low voice as her moan shot straight to his groin, making him unconsciously thrust his hips upwards in his hand.

"Talk. Please." Sophia added in a sultry voice.

"Tell me what you're doing." Reid asked as he stole a quick glance towards the hotel door, smiling as he realized Morgan had locked the door and thrown the deadbolt across. If he was as confident and cocky as Morgan was he might have considered thanking Morgan later on.

"Missing your hands. And thinking about how imagination can only do so much. God I miss you." She muttered the last part in a low voice. Reid bit down on his lip as he palmed his cock through his pants. He yanked down the zipper quickly and couldn't stop the small growl that escaped his lips as the cool air hit him. "Getting interested now, doctor?"

"I miss you too. Sophia…" He keened out her name, his hips jerking up again on their own accord. Sophia let out a little gasp and Reid could hear the phone sliding slightly down the sheet. He knew exactly what that gasp met and he bit harder on his lower lip to keep back the moan that was growing in the back of his throat. "Curl them, like I do." He whispered into the phone. He closed his eyes and licked his lips, images of his fingers bringing Sophia over the edge filling his head. He ran his finger quickly down his length, attempting to mimic Sophia's usual movements.

Sophia mewled loudly before she started chanting Reid's name shakily like some sort of mantra. "I want to hear you cum…please..." He wasn't sure when he had felt the need to beg but his approaching release was clouding his mind. He heard Sophia panting loudly and he sped his hand up. He heard a muffled scream over the phone and he lost it. A white bliss filled all his senses as his hand sped up and he came over and over again, his eyes squeezed tightly closed and his back arching slightly off the bed. He eventually became aware of the gentle panting and murmuring of his name that was coming through the phone as his hand slowed and the pleasurable haze slowly lifted from his senses. He glanced down at himself and the mess he made and couldn't suppress an annoyed groan. He looked over and sighed; a box of tissues sat on the bed-side table.

"Sophia, you're seriously going to get me in trouble one of these days." Reid muttered into the phone as he pressed it up against his ear with one hand, the other focused on cleaning himself up as quickly as possible. He yanked his pants off as he heard Sophia laugh.

"You're welcome." He could hear her bare feet slapping against the tiled floor and the faucet trickling quietly in the background. "I still miss you." He pulled on his pajama pants, holding the phone between his shoulder and ear.

"I miss you too." He added as he took his shirt off, quickly throwing it to the bottom of his bag and grabbed the t-shirt he planned to sleep in. He pulled it over his head just as the shower was turned off. "Morgan's done; I should shower now before it gets later."

"I hate not being able to join you...Such a waste of water."

"Trust me; I was thinking the same thing." Reid glanced up at Morgan as he opened the door, stepping out in nothing but his boxers. Reid glanced over at his go-bag and glared at it as if it was somehow going to inform Morgan on exactly what he was doing just minutes ago the second he left the room. "I'll talk to you later?"

"I love you Spencer."

"Love you too, Sophia. Good night." Reid moved his glare to Morgan who had was making kissing noises behind him. He knew his glare would do nothing but it made him feel better either way.

"Good night. Stay safe."

"Will do." He hung up and grabbed his bathroom bag.

"You two are adorable." Morgan cooed, giving Reid's shoulder a little shove. "Hope you didn't have too much fun while I was gone."

"Ha, ha, ha. Unlike you, not everyone thinks of sex every time they talk to their significant other." Reid rolled his eyes and walked into the bathroom.

"Don't forget that you have to endure my interrogation when you're done in there." Reid shot him one more disapproving face before slamming the bathroom door shut on Morgan's smug face.


	8. Chapter Eight

_**9:45pm – Morgan and Reid's hotel room** _

Reid stepped out of the bathroom and shook his head, splashing water everywhere.

"What are you, a dog?" Morgan asked, turning the TV off.

"No. I'm just in a serious need of a haircut." Reid pulled the sheets back on his bed, readying himself to go to bed.

"Don't even think about it." Morgan said, jumping up from his bed. He flopped down on Reid's just as he was about to slide under the warm sheets.

"Seriously! Can't we just sleep? I'll just take your bed." Reid whined.

"Oh no. You promised." Morgan grabbed Reid's arm and pulled him onto the bed so he was sitting on the foot of the bed in front of him. "You have to answer my questions."

"Five."

"Ten."

"Hell no."

"Hell yes."

"Five tonight and five tomorrow."

"Deal." Morgan stuck his hand out and Reid shook it. "Good. Now, what to ask first?" Morgan rubbed his chin a few seconds in mock contemplation before he rubbed his hands together and smiled. "Does Sophia call you 'Doctor' in bed?"

"MORGAN! Are you kidding me!? I am not talking about my sex life with you!"

"Deny it all you want but you two totally had phone sex out here. So you're obviously somewhat comfortable around me. Besides, as your best friend I am entitled to some sort of information. What else are best friends for if you can't talk to them about the opposite sex?"

"I hate you, you know that, right?"

"You're avoiding. Answer the question Dr. Reid." Morgan emphasized the word with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

Reid fell forward, hiding his face in the pillow next to Morgan's hip. He knew he had to respond or else he'd never get any sleep. So he answered begrudgingly, making sure his voice was muffled by the pillow.

"What was that? I couldn't quite hear that?" Morgan asked, tugging at the pillow till Reid's mouth was no longer covered.

"Yes."

"Knew it. Okay. Next question…Did you guys actually have phone sex out here?"

"You answered your own question like two minutes ago. You just wasted a question. Three more." Reid answered quickly.

"Whatever. Number three…where's the weirdest place you guys have ever had sex?"

"I'm not answering that one."

"Why? Don't tell me it was the office." Morgan looked down at Reid's red face.

"That's not a weird place to have sex; I'm sure you've done it in your office."

"So you have! Hah! You're right though, office-sex is a common kink. So come on, there has to be some place weird." Morgan watched as the blush traveled down Reid's face.

"Park bench."

"Well that's not terribly…weird though I never would have pegged you for one to be so comfortable with public sex." Reid quickly defended himself, stating that a park at 2 am in DC was not really public because no one is ever walking around at that hour.

"Then why are you blushing so much? If it wasn't risky? You obviously didn't think you'd get caught." When Morgan saw Reid turn his face away it finally hit him. His jaw practically unhinged as he looked at Reid. "Did you guys get caught?!"

There was a long pause in which Morgan could have sworn he heard a whimper escape Reid's mouth. "We..uhm…sort of?" He sighed and threw the pillow over the back of his head in some lame attempt to hide. "We got caught…afterwards. We were getting dressed and he scared me so I fell. But in my defense I was pulling my pants up and tripped. Then Sophia snatched up the blanket to cover her top half off and wouldn't share! She informed it is my fault even though it was totally her idea…the officer stood there and laughed for a good five minutes before telling us to get dressed. I lost my favorite pair of socks that night because I was in such a rush to get dressed; they're probably still somewhere in that park! Then he told us to leave before he changed his mind and brought us in for public indecency and exposure. And then he had the nerve to thank us for making his night!"

There was a long pause before Morgan started laughing. Hard. He clutched his stomach and curled into himself, tears falling down his face. "I can't breathe!" He finally squeezed out between laughs. After a few minute he started breathing heavily, stopping his laughter. "God my stomach hurts from laughing. Give me a few to recover." Morgan stopped and caught his breath. After a few more minutes his face finally relaxed and he felt he could safely talk without laughing again. "Let me think." He said, tapping his fingers on his knee.

"Is everything cool after...you know?" Morgan asked hesitantly. It had been six months since the case but Morgan knew it was still a sensitive topic for Reid.

"We're pretty good. We have our moments but it gets better ever day. As...awful...as it sounds it does help that we went through this as a couple once before."

"Good. Garcia's worried."

"What? Why?" Reid looked somewhat panicked.

"Oh you know Garcia. She was worried that you two might break up or get stuck in a...sexual...rut, so to speak. You would think she was personally invested in your relationship." Morgan said with a smile, trying to play off his comment, not thinking that it would upset Reid.

Reid smiled and let out a little laugh. "She is personally invested. God, that woman is probably already planning our wedding know that she knows I want to propose."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Morgan leaned back on the bed, folding his arms underneath his head as a pillow. He knew what question he was saving for last and he was simply debating over whether to ask it tonight or tomorrow. With the thought of the case picking up tomorrow he decided tonight would have to do.

"Okay, last question." Morgan suddenly sounded serious and this drastic change caused Reid to push himself up on his elbows. "Do you love her?"

"What type of question is that? Of course!"

"I mean it Reid. Do you love her? Like, drop everything and walk to the ends of the earth for her, love? Do you love her enough to wake up every morning to her and no one else? Are you willing to quit the BAU to keep her? That kind of love, Reid."

Reid's mouth fell open as if he was about to respond but no words came out. He stared intently at the light flowered pattern of the sheet the lay underneath him. After a few minutes of comfortable silence Reid finally looked up at Morgan. "Yeah. I love her that much."

Morgan nodded. He wasn't sure anymore how he liked his answer. When he asked it he expected that he'd be happy for Reid, especially since he's getting ready to propose. But suddenly the fact that Sophia realistically could ask Reid to quit the BAU was all he could think of. He wished now that he had never asked Reid. Now it couldn't dodge the thought that Reid one day will, unlike Hotch, probably leave to save his marriage.

"Why do you ask that?" Reid asked and before Morgan's brain could process what to say his mouth was already moving.

"Hotch." He said, cringing the second the name hit his ears.

"You mean him and Haley?" Reid asked slowly. "Morgan, I…I'll never be like Hotch. First of all, I never want to move up; I like doing what I'm doing now and I'm not suited for any other job or responsibility. And yes, I love this job, truly I do, but I'm not married to it like Hotch is." He paused slightly before taking a deep breath and starting again. "Though you all seem to think so, I don't actually bring my job home with me. Sophia and I came to an agreement when she moved in; work stays at work. Sophia knows that I love my job and she'd never ask me to quit."

"You don't know that. You guys want kids, right? It wasn't till Jack was born that Haley and Hotch started having problems."

"We haven't really talked about kids but…yeah; I'd like to have a family one day. When we start a family I'll probably stop staying late and coming in early but I'm not going let my job get in the way of my marriage like Hotch. And even if I have to quit to save my marriage, you do realize that doesn't mean we're going to stop being friends."

"Elle quit. Gideon quit. We don't talk to them anymore." Morgan added quietly.

Reid sighed, rubbing a hand down his face. "I'm not Elle and I'm certainly not Gideon. I'm not running away. You guys are all the family I have. If I quit, and that's a big if, I'm not going anywhere. I'm not leaving DC and I'm not leaving you guys."

"Good." Morgan answered as he stood up and walked over to his go-bag. He grabbed a shirt and threw it on before snatching up a keycard. "I'm now in the mood for chocolate. Want something?"

"You're upset and now you want chocolate…you sound like a girl, Morgan. But yes, I could go for some chocolate too." Reid swung his legs off the bed and walked through the door that Morgan was holding open.

"I'm a girl? You're the one that just got all sappy in there, not me." Reid smiled at how quickly they fell back into their usual bickering.

"You asked the damn question!"

"Whatever…princess."

"Seriously!?"


	9. Chapter Nine

,b> _8:10am…Hotel Lobby_

Everyone was to meet in the hotel lobby at 8:00am. Sharp. "No exceptions" as Hotch states on nearly every case before they separated. But let's be honest, those threats were never backed by any true conviction.

Reid and Morgan showed up ten minutes after they were supposed to and although no one was really surprised by this they still rolled their eyes in annoyance. Reid stretched his arms above his head and yawned loudly as he walked in, Morgan dragging his feet behind him.

"Long night boys?" Rossi asked with a laugh, slapping Morgan on the back.

"Morgan was snoring." Reid grumbled, angrily rubbing away the sleep from his eyes.

"Hey...At least I don't talk in my sleep." Morgan quipped back before yawning as well.

"I don't talk in my sleep!"

"You're right, you don't talk in your sleep. It was more like random noises than actual words." Before Reid had a chance to defend himself Hotch started talking, definitively ending the conversation.

"Enough or I'll have to separate you two." Reid huffed and sat down on the couch next to Garcia, unconsciously leaning into her. She laughed and patted her shoulder which Reid gladly rested his head on. "Reid, I want you to get started right away on the geographical profile. Garcia, go with him and start digging into the doctors; find everything and anything. You guys have the address of the station?"

"Yep!" Garcia chirped, causing Reid to grimace at her energy and high voice.

"Morgan and Prentiss, you will go interview the families." Hotch turned around to face Morgan, catching Prentiss' little eyebrow wiggle and Morgan flirtatiously throwing an arm around her shoulders. He wasn't terribly surprised; Morgan could practically flirted in his sleep.

"Rossi and I will go to their offices, see if anyone remembers any disgruntled employees or patients. JJ, I need you to go to the station with Reid and Garcia and make sure the media doesn't run away with this story, especially now that we're involved. I want as little coverage as humanly possible."

With that everyone disbursed quickly, Reid, Garcia and JJ heading straight to the small local station. Morgan and Prentiss opted to visit the victim's families in order, heading first to the Lattimer family.

"I can dibs on the back seat." Reid said through yet another yawn.

"Good ahead Reid. No one would dare get in the way of you napping." JJ said with a sincere smile before climbing into the driver's seat. The second the SUV pulled out of the parking lot Reid was softly snoring away in the back seat, his head resting against the cool glass.

"So..." Garcia started before stopping quickly to look behind her.

"So...?"

"Sorry. Just making sure he's still asleep." She paused and looked back at JJ. "What do you think about him proposing to Sophia?"

"I'm happy for him but at the same time it's kind of hard to wrap my head around it. I can still remember when he first joined. He was so...awkward...and innocent. It's hard to believe, assuming she says yes, he'll be getting married."

"It really is weird to think that he'll have a wife soon. And then probably a family..." Garcia added. "They better have kids. They'll be like gorgeous super-geniuses."

"Don't rush them." JJ said in all seriousness. Garcia smiled and they enjoyed the rest of the car-ride in relative silence, only broken from the occasional soft snore from Reid.


	10. Chapter Ten

**_8:45am - Dr. Lattimer's house_ **

Morgan knocked on the Lattimer's door, taking a step back off the porch. The screen door swung open slowly and a woman stepped into view. She wore a black wrap-dress that hung too loosely on her body as though she had stretched it out before putting it on. Her dirty-blonde was pushed back with a white headband, showing off the pearls that decorated her ears and neck. Her face was tight and uninviting, angry wrinkles framing her thin red mouth.

"Yes?" she said curtly.

"Mrs. Lattimer, I'm Agent Morgan and this is Agent Prentiss. We're with the FBI. We're lookin-"

"Listen, I've talked to the police already. I don't want to dwell on my late husband's death. Why won't you people let the dead rest and the living move on? You people need to leave me the hell alone!" She huffed out, clicking her heels impatiently on the wood floor.

"I know the police spoke to you already and we're not looking to drag this out Mrs. Lattimer." Prentiss said with a soft smile. "But we have reason to believe your husband was a victim of a possible serial killer in Oxford County." Prentiss paused as she saw the woman tossing around the concept in her mind.

"Fine. Come in. And it's Hannah, not Mrs. Latimer." Swinging the door open, she stepped aside and ushered them in to the townhouse. She led them into a sitting room and gestured for them to sit down in a leathered couch. Morgan looked around and fought the urge to chuckle. He felt like he had stepped into Reid's fantasy house. The far left wall was lined with dark oaken bookshelves. Each shelf held some sort of encyclopedia, each with a different colored spine. On the opposite side of the room sat a large brown leather couch that was framed by two potted ferns. On the walls were framed antique maps of the seven continents.

"Is there anyone who could possible want your husband dead? A disgruntled employee or enemy of some sorts?"

"He doesn't tell me much."

"How long has your relationship been on the rocks?" Morgan asked, throwing Hannah slightly off guard.

"Oh. Well." She sat back and frowned. "We've been separated for the last six months. But honestly our relationship was doomed from the start."

"Infidelity?" Morgan asked quietly.

"…No. Scott was in a relationship with his business." Hannah said with a frown. "I've accepted the fact that our relationship is for show; keeping up appearances. We may live in a small little community but due to his popularity of his practice we're often in the limelight."

Prentiss nodded her head, thinking to her own parent's relationship.

"Okay. Well, what about just patients? Any of them give him problems?"

"Uhm. Hold on one second." She stood up and walked over to a small desk that was pushed diagonally against a corner. "Here." She said as she passed a large file over to Morgan. "All his lawsuits and whatnot are in here. Just drop them back off when you get a chance."

"Can you think of any reason a person would want your husband dead?"

Hannah shrugged her shoulders before sitting down back at on the armchair. "Honestly, no. I mean he's a doctor, so there will always be lawsuits and angry patients but there really isn't a single person who stands out. Usually just angry letters and basic stuff like that."

"Nothing ever escalated beyond that? No one ever came directly to your house?" Prentiss asked.

"No. Even the letters went to the office."

"Do you have any of those letters?"

Hannah let out a little laugh. "No. And before you ask I have no clue where they would be. My husband rarely told me anything about his precious business. It was like pulling teeth to get any sort of information out of him. Like I said before, our relationship was a show."

"Well there must have been some affection prior to your fall out?"

Hannah rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure, when we were like 18. But we got married and he started his own practice things in the same year. He chose to spend more time at work than with me. I was pushed to the back burner and that was that. Anything else?" Hannah ended tensely, letting Prentiss know instantly that her question was far from appreciated and that her patience was running thin.

Morgan stood up, smiling down at Hannah. motioning Prentiss to follow. "If you remember anything of importance, please call." With that the two showed themselves out.

"Well that was useless." Prentiss said as she climbed into the SUV.

Morgan started the car, pulling away from the large house. "How can you stay married to someone you obviously have no interest being around? And did you hear the hesitation in her answer about Scott's infidelity?"

"You think he's cheating on her?" Prentiss asked.

"Without a doubt. We need to call Rossi. I bet you 20 bucks that his business relationship was more intimate than Hannah's leading on."

Prentiss laughed and grabbed her phone. "You going for the stereotypical secretary-boss relationship?"

"You bet." Morgan smiled and glanced over, watching Prentiss dial her phone.


	11. Chapter Eleven

**_10:20 am – Dr. Matthew's Office_ **

Hotch and Rossi walked into Dr. Matthew's office and neither could hold back the grimace on their face. There were at least 15 people sitting within the spacious waiting room. The nurse at the front desk had a phone practically glued to her ear, asking patient after patient to hold.

Hotch walked up to the desk and flipped open his badge. He waited, expecting the older woman to eventually look up at him. Instead she continued on the phone, taking appointments and leaving long-winded messages about results and up-coming appointments.

Rossi was getting antsy already, never one for waiting rooms. They had waited an exorbitant amount of time simply waiting at Dr. Lattimer's office only to have to deal with a hysterical secretary who was obviously way too attached to the doctor. Rossi grabbed Hotch's badge out of his hand and threw it down loudly onto the woman's open folder. She glanced up at them and frowned. She turned around and yelled for another woman behind her.

"Ma'am, I'm going to have to put you on hold for a minute…Yes, of course…Thank you." She hung up the phone and stood up, motioning for the younger woman to sit down. "Mr. Campton is on line 2. He needs to be transferred to billing. Oh, and the rest of the lines are just appointments." The younger nodded and sat down, picking up the phone.

"Come through the door over there gentlemen."

Hotch reached forward and grabbed his badge, tucking it quickly back into his pocket before following Rossi through the door.

"I'm just going to take a shot in the dark and assume you're here to talk about Jenna. She was a sweetheart." The woman stopped and opened up an office door, flicking the light on.

"Yes. We-" The woman, who Rossi could now identify as Maria thanks to her name-tag, cut him off and continued talking.

"And I guess it's a safe bet to assume it wasn't just some random act of violence since the FBI are involved. I dealt with all her patients just at the front desk and on the phone. You really need to talk to Cathleen. She works in billing. She was pretty much Jenna's secretary; she always had her running around doing something for her." Maria rolled her eyes and gestured for Hotch and Rossi to come in.

"Her personal belongings are all still here. There really isn't anyone to take them." She sighed and leaned against the door. "You can look around; no one really cares about this stuff anyhow. It'll all be thrown out probably by next week. The patient's files have been removed obviously so I'm not sure what you'll find."

"Thank you. Were there any patients who stick out in your mind as being violent or threatening? Maybe someone who lashed out or had outbursts of anger?"

"Ha! That's hilarious." Maria said, resting her hand on her hip. "Listen, I've been working in doctor's offices my whole life. The patients out there," she stopped, throwing her thumb towards the walking room. "They're all angry. It's one thing to have to go see a doctor for the flu, a broken foot or some stomach cramp. It's a whole other thing when it's your heart. They're bitter, angry, sad, upset, frightened…you name it, they got it all. Your heart's what keeps you going. You'd be prone to 'outbursts of anger' too if that was suddenly failing on you."

Hotch only half-listened to her rant as he pulled open the drawers on her desk. Nothing really stood out to him and there was nothing particularly personal anywhere in her office.

"What about complaints or lawsuits?"Rossi asked, already annoyed simply by Maria's presence.

"Again, you gotta ask Cathleen."

"Then can you get her?" Rossi asked, smiling at the end. "Please?"

Maria huffed and stood up straighter. "Or I could just show you to her office. I'm not some messenger." She glared at Rossi. And glared. And glared some more. "Fine! I'll be right back with her."

Rossi shook his head and turned around.

"You could have just gone with her you know?" Hotch said, pulling open the bottom drawer.

"Yeah I think I'll pass on spending more time with the lovely Maria. Besides, if Cathleen spends that much time with Dr. Matthews as Maria makes her seem, she isn't going to like you snooping."

"I'm not snooping. I have a warrant." Hotch said, slamming the bottom drawer closed, a planner in his hands.

"Yeah, like that ever stopped anyone from complaining."

"I don't think they're that close." Hotch answered, not bothering to look up from the planner, staring intently at the June calendar. "Today's the 27th. Dr. Wegner went missing on the 25th. That means Dr. Cattleman disappeared 18th and Dr. Matthews last day at the office was the 11th."

"Anything important on that date? And why do you assume they weren't close?"

" 'No one really cares about this stuff anyhow. It'll all be thrown out probably by next week.' That's what Maria said. If they were close that wouldn't be the case."

"Well thank you Reid for that lovely speech…verbatim. Your talents nearly match his. All I'm saying is that you wouldn't run errands like crazy for a woman you don't like."

Hotch opened his mouth with a snide remark but stopped as he heard the loud clicking of heels accompanied by Maria's voice.

"This is Cathleen. I'll leave to three alone. If there's nothing else you need to see you can show yourself out." With that Maria left.

Standing in front of them was a slightly full-figured woman with curly dirty blonde hair. She was dressed in a simply navy blue dress and white cardigan that covered her substantial bust and showed off her curvy waist. She looked to be in her early 40's, though the crow's feet around her frown made her look much older. Rossi thought that if he had met her any other place or time he might consider courting her, if she'd just smile.

"I have a job to do gentlemen." She answered in a smooth voice, pushing her hair off her shoulder.

"Then we'll keep it short. Were there any lawsuits against Dr. Matthews?" Hotch asked, not once bothering to look up from the planner.

"Eight." She said, handing them a pile of files. "The last three were much more serious malpractice suits."

"Okay. Can you think of anyone who would want Dr. Matthews dead?"

"Beats me. The woman was a great doctor, there's no denying that, but she was a rather callous person outside the examining room. And you wonder why she was 47 and unmarried."

"Callous how?" Rossi scrunched his eyebrows in confusion as he asked.

"…I guess elitist would be a better word. She was always better than everyone around her. And she had no sense of community; she forever lived in the dog-eat-dog world of Med School where she always had to prove herself."

"Why do you think she was this way?" Hotch asked, finally closing the planner and placing back on the desk. He looked up at Cathleen, waiting for an answer.

"I guess because she's been on her own for awhile now. Her mom killed herself when Jenna-Lynn was 18 and her father was never in the picture." Cathleen didn't seem particularly sympathetic and it irritated Hotch.

"Thank you. We'll call if we have any questions for you." With that Hotch and Rossi walked passed Cathleen and out the office. They said nothing till Hotch was pulling out of the parking lot.

"You know," he started, before sighing. "They say you shouldn't talk ill of the dead." He paused, shaking his head. "She obviously was respected but not well-liked. We weren't going to get anything out of anybody there."

"Yeah, I got the same feeling. Onto the next?"


	12. Chapter Twelve

**_5:00pm – Oxford County Police Station_ **

They all met back at the station, frustration clearly painted on everyone's face.

"So what do we have?" Hotch asked, looking around at the team. He saw the haggard faces and although he was just as irritated by everyone in this case, he made sure not to show it.

"I've got a file full of complaints and lawsuits from each of the doctors that were kept at their homes." Morgan said, dropping a large stack of files onto the table. Rossi pulled out a smaller pile of files himself.

"We got the same list from the secretaries. Dr. Cattleman and Dr. Lattimer are our main contributors." Rossi added, dropping his own stack of files down next to Morgan's.

"And what do the families have to say?" Hotch asked, again looking to Morgan and Prentiss.

Prentiss shrugged his shoulders. "Not much. No one could think of anyone outside of patients who would be motivated to kill them. We've got one pissed off wife and the rest are either single or just 'dating.' Nothing in their personal lives that really make them a target."

"Let me guess, Lattimer's wife?" Rossi said with a smile.

"Told ya Prentiss!" Morgan said triumphantly. "He and the secretary were having an affair, weren't they?"

"Yeah. But the none of the other doctor's were involved in relationships with their secretaries. In fact, for the most part, the rest of the doctors were rather impersonal with their employees."

"Reid?" Hotch said, turning around to face the map and Reid, not particularly interested in what he would consider water-cooler gossip. Reid, who was apparently still engrossed with the map, spun around quickly on his heels.

"Well, according to Officer Ericson the forest is extremely dense and hard to navigate. Based on how far in the bodies were dumped, the unsub needs to be comfortable in the forest. In fact the forest itself is-" Reid stopped himself as his gaze caught Morgan's smirk.

"So we're looking for hunters, police officers or forest rangers in our age range." Hotch added, somewhat thankful that Reid had stopped himself. He nodded at Garcia who started typing away on her computer.

Reid stopped talking as Garcia glared at him. She had stopped typing and was simply staring.

"I can't search interests…" She said in slight annoyance. "I'm good but I'm not that good."

Morgan laughed at Garcia. "Look up hunting licenses and state camping registration; can't camp in a state park without a permit from the state department." Garcia blushed slightly and looked apologically over at Reid then back at Morgan. She went back to typing on her computer, though less vigorously than before.

Rather quietly Reid added, "We can also narrow the search to only those who live in Oxford County. All the bodies were dumped within the Oxford section of the White Mountain forest. And the doctors either live or practiced in Oxford County. This is definitely his comfort zone."

Garcia nodded at Reid and continued typing, stopping every few seconds to read over the screen in front of her.

"We got anything else?" Hotch asked, looking over his team one by one. Everyone shook their head quickly, rather disappointed in the fact.

After a few minutes of typing in silence Garcia's loud sigh filled the tiny room. "122 men. You'd be surprised how many hunters and officers there are in Oxford County alone."

"122! In our age-range?" Morgan asked incredulously.

"You betcha sugar." Garcia answered sympathetically.

"Okay, well, cross reference those names with the list of patients, employees and complaints we have." Garcia nodded and started with the patient lists she had gotten ahold of.

"We've got to lower these results." JJ added, leaning back in her chair. "We can't give a profile without more than this."

"Not to mention, giving this profile is going to piss off every officer beyond this wall. Let's be honest, if we accuse a cop or ranger, we're not exactly going to be welcomed anymore." Morgan said, pointing over his shoulder.

"Have we found their cars yet?" Rossi asked suddenly.

"…No" Hotch answered slowly.

"Well, if you find the cars it will answer how he gets them out; by force, by asking, by damaging the car, by threatening?"

"How he gets them out could help narrow down the search. You're going to trust an officer or ranger more so than a stranger camping nearby or some guy in hunting gear." Reid said with enthusiasm.

"Are there any road that passes through or by the forest that all these doctors would have used?" Hotch asked, looking over at the map himself.

Reid began moving his fingers around the map. His finger dew different paths from the offices to the doctor's house. His fingers seemed to dance across the map gracefully, the rest of the team fixated on their movement.

"Yes. There's one road; US-302. It's locally known as Crawford Notch Road."

"Wait, don't you think that the officers here would have looked already for the cars? Especially since the bodies were dumped in the forest?" Morgan asked skeptically.

"Not necessarily." Reid answered before he pointed to the five red pins on the map. "The bodies aren't anywhere near US-302. And just look at how undeveloped this police office is. They don't have near enough officers to devote the necessary time to these murders. US-302 runs from Portland, Maine all the way to the New Hampshire border, near Mt. Washington, New Hampshire. That's a huge distance to cover with such little man-power."

"Okay. Prentiss, you and Reid go down there and scope out the area. Try to find the cars that the local LEOs obviously missed. Morgan, stay here with Rossi and start going through the complaints that you collected and lawsuits we got. JJ, let's start looking into any sort of media coverage that might involve these doctors. Garcia, keep up with the searches."

Prentiss wrapped her arm around Reid's, smiling at him broadly. "Ready for a lovely car ride?" Reid rolled his eyes and let himself get dragged out with Prentiss. Before the exited the room Hotch called for their attention.

"Be back at the station by 8pm. No need for you guys to be out any later than that."


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**_6:30pm – US-302_ **

Prentiss drove slowly down US-302 with Reid in the passenger seat, each of them looking out their rolled-down window.

"Visibility is seriously limited." Prentiss said with a huff.

"Give it about 15 more minutes and we're going to lose what sunlight we have left. In fact, because of where we are we-"

"I swear Reid I will pull this car over and make you walk the rest of the way down this road if you even consider lecturing me on time zones and the sun."

"What if I lecture you on something more interesting?" Reid asked with a smile, laughter clearly evident in his voice.

"Depends on what you consider interesting." Reid could hear the hesitance in her voice. He had to admit that Prentiss probably had the most patience with him when it came to his rants, as long as it was what she deemed as 'interesting.'

"I can give you a rant about cats. About Sergio or the boys, your choice." Reid said with a shrug of his shoulder.

"As tempting as it to listen to you profile my cat, I'd rather hear about something else. Like, for instance, how do you plan on proposing to Sophia?"

Reid looked over a Prentiss with a confused look painted on his face. "With the ring?"

"That's not what I meant Reid." Prentiss laughed loudly, still staring out her window at the empty road.

"Well then you ought to explain since things apparently 'go over my head' as you guys always so lovingly put it."

"I meant are you going to take her to dinner and then propose to her at the restaurant? Or are you going to propose to her at your apartment?"

"Oh." Prentiss looked over and saw Reid's scrunched face, his eyebrows pulled down in what Prentiss assumed was deep thought. "Well, I mean, I was going to take her out to the Italian restaurant, La Famiglia, near our apartment and then..." He paused again, looking back at Prentiss. "I didn't really think beyond that."

"Well, do you want to propose in public or in the restaurant?"

"No. I can't...I mean...I'm terrified...It's hard enough to just get the nerve to think about proposing, let alone actually doing it. I don't think I could do it in front of strangers. I mean, just asking Sophia makes my heart pound and my hands sweat." Prentiss patted Reid's shoulder, smiling sympathetically at Reid.

Okay, well, walk me through it." Prentiss asked, knowing that Reid always thought best aloud. The conversation continued as Prentiss talked Reid through what he was planning on doing. Reid waved his hands around animatedly and seemed to change his mind as to how he wanted to propose every time Prentiss asked another question. It went from bringing dessert home and proposing then to proposing to her outside at the park where they used to play chess.

Both of them continued shining their flashlights out their windows in some attempt to see beyond the thick trees that bordered both sides of the monotonous road. They drove down the road for 1 ½ hours before they finally spotted a car pushed off the side of the road. They rolled to a stop just beyond the car and go out. Reid walked over to the passenger door, opening it carefully as Prentiss began snapping pictures quickly of the outside of the car.

"This is Dr. Wegner's car." Reid shouted after opening the glove compartment and pulling out the car's registration information.

"Where are the rest of the cars?" Prentiss asked more to herself.

"Beats me. Dr. Wegner's the latest victim and we haven't even found her body yet. Maybe our unsub comes back and hides the cars after he murders them?" Reid looked around the interior of the car as he spoke. "Keys are in the ignition of the car. Driver's window is rolled down."

"Flat tire out here. Doesn't looked tampered with." Prentiss added.

"So she gets a flat tire late at night, according to the LEOs it was down pouring."

"She sees someone trustworthy, friendly and accepts their help" Prentiss continued the second Reid paused to take a breath. "So we're down to police officers and park rangers."

"Okay...let's mark it on GPS and head back to the station. Hotch's going to want to see this."


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**_8:15 – Local Police Office_ **

Reid and Prentiss walked into the small conference room, talking animatedly amongst each other only to be greeted by their two tired and irritable co-workers.

"No changes down here?"

Morgan looked up from his file and rubbed his forehead lazily.

"We've got our list down to 43 people." Rossi said before Morgan could answer.

"Where's Garcia? I think we can narrow our search down a bit more." Prentiss said, sitting down across from Rossi.

"I'm here!" A voice chirped from behind them. Garcia walked in, followed quickly by JJ and Hotch. In her hands was an array of coffees from a nearby shop.

"Please tell me that's coffee...and that it's caffeinated." Reid said as he grabbed at the first one on the top.

"It is. I know better than to ever give you decaf Boy Genius." Garcia handed out the coffees and sat down behind her computer. "So, what can I do for my lovelies?"

"We found Dr. Wegner's car. We marked it on GPS; LEOs will bring it in tomorrow morning." Prentiss started as Reid took a large gulp, smiling largely.

"Her car was in perfect condition aside from a flat tire." Reid started, half of his coffee already sitting in his stomach. "It looked as though it was caused by just wear and tear. She got a flat tire and pulled over. The driver's window was down nearly all the way, even though it was raining that night. We can assume that someone stopped to help her and that someone was a person she trusted."

"So we're looking at cops or park rangers." Morgan concluded, pushing his file away from him. "Which means, pretty much every file I just looked at is thrown out. He leaned back letting is head hang over the squeaking, plastic chair.

"Well, just give me a second to filter the search." After a few clicks Garcia finally looked up from her computer. "8 people now."

"Fantastic; we'll split the list and start looking into them tomorrow morning. It's a small town and everything practically shuts down by 9pm. There's nothing more we can do tonight; get some sleep." Hotch looked around at everyone, taking in their exhausted postures before leaving to find JJ who was still talking to the officers outside.


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**_8:45pm – Hotel – Morgan and Reid's room_ **

"I still have five questions to ask you." Morgan said the second Reid stepped over the threshold behind him.

"Come on!" Reid threw his hands to the side in frustration before dropping down on the bed. He pulled up his pillows, leaning himself comfortably against the wooden headboard.

"Sorry Pretty boy. You're not getting out of this one." Reid rolled his eyes and used his toes to kick off his shoes. "Go ahead, it's not like I can delay you. Sophia's cousin Michelle is spending the weekend and they're probably out doing whatever cousins do."

"Probably gossiping about you." Morgan said with a laugh.

"Honestly; they probably are. I know they're pretty close seeing as Sophia grew up with two brothers and no sister." Reid shrugged his shoulder, finding himself thinking about the time Sophia and he sat down to go over the "important" relatives to know. Reid's took very little time while Sophia spent nearly two hours; her Italian heritage not helping the situation. He sat there trying to run over every relation she pointed out, from Michelle and her husband Keith, to her grandmother Eloise and her great aunts Claire, Holly and Therese, to her brother Michael and his boyfriend Isaac who were apparently getting very serious.

"Reid?" Morgan said, waving a hand in front of his friend's face.

"Hmm?" Reid said, unaware of the fact that he had completely spaced out.

"Can I ask my questions now?" Morgan laughed as he watched Reid blinking rapidly as if he

"Oh, yeah, sorry. I guess my mind wandered for a bit."

"Whatever. Okay, question six; does your mom know about you and Sophia?" Like has she met her?"

"Of course!" Reid answered, looking confusedly at Morgan.

"Of course she knows about Sophia or of course she's met her?"

"Both. I took her to Las Vegas for Thanksgiving." Reid looked over at Morgan and took in his expression; he was obviously waiting for more. "It was...interesting. I mean I tried to prepare them both. Sophia and my mom spend nearly two hours comparing their favorite books but when we started talking about her job and mine my mom started getting...agitated. She started asking her usual question; why am I not living closer to her, why am I working for the government, and so on. She started getting upset and I sent Sophia back to the hotel to try to calm my mom down. She eventually just shut down on me and I left as well."

"Did you go back the next day? I mean, you guys were there for three days."

"Yeah we did." Reid let out a sigh, glancing away from Morgan. "We stopped by to have Thanksgiving dinner with her and...my dad was there."

"Oh. Not what I was expecting." Morgan said, glancing over at his friend.

"Yeah, not what I was expecting either. But he got to meet Sophia so I guess it killed two birds with one stone. Speaking of which, did you know that this idiom is one of the few that doesn't have a definitive source. There are really two accepted sources. The first is that it comes from a Chinese saying or idiom, yi shi er niao. Which translates to, obviously, one stone two birds. It could also come from another Chinese phrase though as well, yi jian shuang diao, which means one arrow double vultures. But another commonly believed source is that it comes from the Greek mythology story of Daedalus and his son Icarus. Daedalus, in a means to escape from King Minos, decides to create a set of wings using the feathers of birds. He starts throwing stones at the birds to kill them and retrieve their feathers. He hits one bird and the ricochet actually hits another. So he ac-"

"Reid...you're avoiding."

"I know." Reid said with an uncomfortable laugh. "It was...weird. I mean, Sophia knows about my dad and all but even I didn't know how to act around him. And to make things worse my mom acted as if nothing was wrong, like my dad never left us. And I know my dad was just trying to repair things between us but he was over doing it when it came to trying to impress Sophia."

Morgan swung his legs over the side of his bed, moving closer to Reid. "Do you want things to get better between you and your dad?"

"I don't know yet." Reid sighed and looked Morgan in the eyes. "I know, that's just a cop-out."

"There's nothing wrong with that. No one would ever expect you to just forgive and forget." Morgan paused and after seeing Reid's frown decided to quickly change the topic. "OKAY! Question seven; have you guys talked about kids?"

"Really? You had to ask that?" Reid groaned, running a hand down his face.

"Duh. Come on. I know you have an answer."

Reid was officially dreading letting Morgan ask so many questions. He glanced over at the clock on the nightstand, wondering if he could get out of these questions by claiming he wanted to call Sophia to say goodnight. But since he had already ruined that excuse by telling Morgan about Michelle, he knew there was no escape. "Yeah. I mean, we haven't really talked about it in depth. I've…sort of been avoiding it."

"Avoiding? Why?" Morgan unconsciously tilted his head to the side in a questioning manner.

"I'm…well…schizophrenia is genetic." Reid muttered softly, rolling over onto his stomach, folding his arms and resting his head. He closed his eyes, hoping that Morgan wouldn't continue the conversation. Reid's fear of schizophrenia was practically paralyzing and Morgan out of all his friends knew this very well. He knew it well enough to quickly ask his next question, not wanting Reid to get caught up in thinking about his biggest fear.

"Question eight!" Morgan said with a clap of his hand. "I've been meaning to ask this for awhile now. Why didn't you ever tell us about Sophia?"

Reid turned his head so he could get a better look at Morgan. His friend was lounging on his back, his arms folded behind his head and his upper torso resting against the headboard. He wondered if he should answer the question honestly, not wanting Morgan to get upset with him. And he knew Morgan would be upset.

"Reid. You're over-thinking again. Come on. There had to have been a logical reason."

Reid visibly cringed. It was a logical reason, at least to him. But to Morgan… well, maybe not.

"I just…" Reid sighed. It was now or never. "I didn't let you guys know for a few reasons. I was scared you guys might…scare her off…"

"Scare her off?" Morgan asked, his eyebrows pulled tightly together in confusion and slight annoyance.

"Well. I mean. You guys can be overbearing and…protective. Especially JJ and you. And Garcia can be…overwhelming."

"Overbearing? I'm not overbearing!" Morgan asked, sitting up slightly in disbelief.

"Really Morgan? Interrogating my girlfriend doesn't count as overbearing?"

"I didn't interrogate Sophia! I came over to, you know, get to know her better. I mean, you're my best friend and I think I deserve to at least know a little bit about your soon-to-be fiancé."

"I'm not saying that you don't. But you came across like…like a father who was interrogating his daughter's first boyfriend. I was waiting for you to place your gun on the coffee table."

Morgan rolled his eyes at Reid. He didn't think he was that bad that night. He simply wanted to make sure Reid was…happy, simple as that. He looked over at Reid, noting the small smile on his face. "You know, you said you had a few reasons…"

Reid huffed loudly. "Yeah, I guess the fear of Strauss saying something stopped me as well. And, you know, having something, someone, completely separate from work is…nice."

"I get it. Though I don't think Strauss is as cold-hearted as we all claim her to be."

Reid shrugged, tilting his head is a nonchalant manner. "I guess. But I tell Sophia a lot about the cases we've gone on, which I know is not exactly allowed and I guess I had this fear that someone Strauss was going to find out and, I don't know, fire me or tell me break things off with her…or, whatever."

"So you tell Sophia a lot about what we do? What about...you know...uhmm."

"Just get it out, Morgan."

"Well, did you tell her about Hankel...and you know."

"My drug use?" Reid answered bluntly.

"Yeah." Morgan said, dropping his head like a regret-filled child.

"She knows. After she moved in I had a bad nightmare. One about Hankel. And I couldn't fall asleep. She stayed up with me and I just spilled everything out; what he did to me, said to me, what I dreamed about, how scared I was, the drugs. Everything. I just started talking and couldn't stop. And she just sat there and listened. She didn't ask any questions, didn't make any comments." Reid took a deep breath and looked down at his hands, his face scrunched in thought. "And I mean, she knows that every once in awhile I go to a meeting. Granted, since she's moved in I go less and less, which is...nice. Real nice. I just, don't think about it with her, you know? Like she's there and I feel like it never happened. It's not at the back of my mind, nagging me all the time. And if it ever is, she's usually there to distract me."

Morgan smiled at Reid and got up from his bed. He sat down next to Reid and gave him a little nudge, making Reid look up from his hands. "I'm glad you've found someone that does that for you Reid. If there's anyone in the world that deserves a break it's you."

After a few minutes of comfortable silence between the two friends Morgan finally heaved himself off Reid's bed and walked over to his go-bag. "So question number ten is…different."

"Different?"

"Yeah well, Garcia was mad that you kept Sophia a secret so she was determined to learn all the "juicy details" that she seems to think she missed out on. Apparently you can't get away with keeping a secret like that from Garcia without her wanting some sort of…compensation."

"You've got to be kidding me…"

"Nope. And she cornered me before we got on the plane and told me that because you didn't invite her ring shopping you "own it to her" to answer these ten questions. She thinks it'll be less awkward if I ask you."

"She obviously doesn't know you." Reid muttered under his breath. He reached a hand out, snatching the paper from Morgan's hand. "If these questions were written my Garcia I sure as hell am not answering them out loud. God only knows what perverted thoughts run through Garcia's mind. I mean, she considers Nicholas Sparks to be high-quality writing. If you ask me, Sparks shouldn't be as famous as he is; his plots are stereotypical, stolen from classic pieces of literature and-"

"Just answer the damn survey." Morgan cut him off, thrusting a pen towards him. "I don't even know who you're ranting about, which makes your rants even harder to follow. How does Sophia deal?"

"She usually knows enough about things to follow my rants. And you should hear her go on and on about literature; she was an English major with a concentration on American literature. Actually, she's planning on quitting her job at the newspaper and taking over her Dad's bookstore once he retires. She once wrote a thirty page research paper that focused on Edgar Allen Poe's use of sounds throughout his stories to amplify the fear that readers get while reading his stories. She focused on our bodies responses to auditory stimuli, specific pitches, the impact of frequency, and then applied all of it to his stories. Well, really she only applied it to "The Black Cat," "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Raven" and "The Fall of the House of Usher" but should could have done so much more. She could have used "The Cask-""

"Reid!" Morgan yelled. Reid looked up to see Morgan staring at him, his hands waving in front of his face. "Please…please…please! Just answer the damn survey."

Reid rolled his eyes and looked down at the paper, the pen grasped tightly in his hand.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me."


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**_11:30am – Local Police Office_ **

"Please Reid!" Morgan's voice bounced off the walls, carrying it down the short hallway and to the ears of his waiting team members who had all gathered into the small conference room. Hotch rolled his eyes the second he heard Morgan's pleading voice while JJ, Garcia and Prentiss laughed out loud, not bothering to cover up their amusement. Rossi, unlike the rest of his co-workers, was using the time he knew they'd have to wait for while Morgan got ready to catch up on some much needed sleep.

"No." Reid answered through gritted teeth, too quietly for the team to hear.

"Pretty pleeeeeassssseeee!" Morgan begged just as they came into view of their teammates.

"The physical appearance of the please makes no difference."

"...Did you just quote Despicable Me?"

"Henry and I watched it last week when I was babysitting-don't judge."

"What exactly are you begging Reid for?" JJ asked as the two finally took their seats at the table in the center of the room.

"NOTHING!" Reid yelled, clamping a head over Morgan's mouth before he had a chance to speak. "EWWWW! WHAT THE HELL MORGAN!" Reid screamed as he pulled his hand away from Morgan's mouth, wiping it on his khakis. "Licking people's hands? Really, Morgan? Could you at least pretend to be an adult for, like, five seconds."

"Behave...And no licking." Hotch said in a voice that was obviously pretending to be more serious than it really was; the corners of his lips quivering as they tried to curl up into a smile as Hotch fought to suppress it.

Morgan gave Hotch a thumbs up before reaching forward and grabbing the files that JJ was holding out for him. He handed three to Reid before taking two for himself, handing the last three to Hotch.

"I swear if you mention Garcia's survey I promise you I will kill you...and get away with it." Reid whispered into Morgan's ear. Morgan smiled and shifted in his seat, leaning over to whisper back.

"I already texted Garcia to let her know you saw it. You can't escape her; and you know she'll just tell me." Morgan shot Reid an evil smile before turning back to his file, finally focusing back on the case at hand.

Everyone fell into a sort of tense silence, each person's eyes glued to the file in front of them. Hotch, Reid and Morgan were reading through the files that Garcia had pulled last night while Rossi, JJ and Prentiss were pouring over the personal files of the cops that were mere feet away from them, only a thin wall between them. There was no reason to limit their search when they had no idea what they were looking for.

About ten minutes into their quiet vigil the door flew open and Garcia's voice filled the room. "I got a hit!" she yelled, scaring everyone out of their stupor.

"Off which search?" Hotch asked quickly, sitting up straighter in the hard plastic chair.

"The first search, well, sort of. I thought that while you guys were looking through the eight people and the cops I'd go back to the first search. And you know what I realized?" Garcia asked but didn't bother to wait for a response. "Some of the patients we were looking at were children. So obviously they'd be filtered out the second I added any sort of criteria. So I added their parents. And I found a common patient between all the doctors and guess what? The patient's father would have popped up in our newer search as well if I had done this earlier; he's a forest ranger. His son was a patient with all the doctors." She paused, catching her breath. "The father's name is Andre Coltan. His son, Jeremy was born with an enlarged heart and weakened immune system."

"So if the son was the patient, what happened to him?" JJ asked, unsure if she really wanted to hear the answer. There had to be a stressor and though she knew what the stressor must have been it was a completely different thing to hear it aloud.

"Andre took Jeremy to every pediatric heart doctor he could find. He needed a heart transplant but no doctor would approve of it due to his immune system. They all stated that the infant wouldn't survive the surgery. As awful as it sounds, every doctor felt that any surgery would be a waste of time, money and a heart that someone else could receive unless Jeremy's immune system got better."

"And?"

"It didn't get better. Jeremy died when he was 7 months old from heart failure." Garcia answered quietly, all the energy seemed to be instantly sucked out of her.

"Why not sue the doctors?" Reid asked.

"No money. The man was practically broke prior to Jeremy's death. And then his wife left shortly after their son's death."

"There's our trigger." Hotch said softly, closing the file in front of him. "I think it's safe to say he's a best suspect. You have any address for Andre Coltan?"

"Yeah, it's a huge property too. According to building records it's an old horse farm; it's got a barn, some old farmhouse and one over-sized horse stable."

"How far away are we?" Rossi asked quickly, glancing up at the map.

"Uhm…35 minutes. Shorter if you let Morgan drive." Garcia answered with a smile.


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**_12:20pm – Coltan's farm_ **

The ride to the farm was completely quiet, no one really having anything to say. They sat uncomfortably in two SUVs, their Kevlar vests making it impossible to get anywhere even remotely close to what could be defined as comfortable. Prentiss continually shifted her seatbelt as it dug into her neck while Morgan kept pulling at the neck of the vest as he drove.

"Did you know Kevlar was invented by a woman?" Reid said suddenly, breaking the silence as he shifted his own vest.

"No pretty boy, I didn't know that."

"Well now you do." He said with a smile. "Stephanie Kwolek. She was trying to create a new fiber for tires for DuPont." The car fell back into a comfortable silence, Reid unconsciously reviewing everything he knew about Kevlar. His thoughts automatically went to whether or not it would be of use today. As he felt the SUV roll onto a gravel road he saw the images of the bodies flashing past his eyes. Choice of weapon; non-serrated knife, most likely hunting knife. Wound location; chest, organized and controlled. Victims; pediatric cardiologist. Profile; mid-thirties male, emotionally unstable, unlikely to choose suicide-by-cop, revenge motivated. He continued to run through the profile, reviewing every detail, every suggestion thrown out by the team. Everything.

"We're here." Morgan's sharp voice suddenly, slamming on the breaks. The team piled out of the two cars, instantly splitting up into their predetermined groups. Morgan and Reid made their way to the old farmhouse while the rest of the team dispersed throughout the rest of the property.

"There's three floors, no basement according to the town's archives." Reid said quietly to Morgan.

"Alright. I'll take the ground level while you take the second floor. Is the third floor an attic?" He asked pushing the door open slowly.

"Yes. But the blueprints makes it look like the room above the third floor is almost too small to be an attic. Then again there's a pull-down staircase in the original layout."

Morgan nodded quickly, slowly inching towards the left half of the house into what looked to be a living room. Reid made his way quietly up the old staircase, taking a deep breath before starting to make his way through the house.

"Clear!" Reid heard Morgan yell from below him on the first floor. He looked around him, opening the first door to his right. He was greeted by an old bathroom with cracked tiles and a grim-covered tub that, if cleaned up, would probably be rather beautiful. His nose twitched as the smell of mold slowly moved around the room.

He walked across the hall and opened the next door that led into a baby's room. A hand-carved crib sat pushed against the wall, a mobile of planets hanging above it. A baby blanket was folded neatly over the railing, designed with stars, moons and clouds. The room itself was painted a light yellow with a thick blue stripe in the middle. The light bulbs had since burned out, the light switch left in the on position. In the corner sat a dark rocking chair with a plush off-white cushion. The chair itself looked as though it was once pure white but the thick layer of dust that now sat on it gave it a sickly gray color.

He pulled down the attic stairs and suddenly wished he was everywhere else but. Rossi and Hotch were in the farm while JJ and Prentiss were searching the stables. Reid and Morgan had pulled the short straw and ended up in his house, an old, dilapidated farmhouse that was in a serious need of dusting.

"It looks like nobody's been here for years" Morgan shouted again.

"What gave you that idea? The 4 inches of dust?" Reid muttered back.

"I heard that genius." Reid chuckled to himself and finally began to ascend the stairs. The wood protested loudly under his weight with each foot placed. Reid was officially glad he was nothing but "skin and bone" as people often comment. Any heavier and he was sure he would fall right through.

He reached the top step and inspected the flooring in front of him. He worried his bottom lip, unsure if he wanted to trust his weight to water-stained, rotting boards. He stared a few seconds longer at the floor, completely unaware of the black mass that was slowly inching towards him. A small stream of light filtered through the grim-covered window on the back wall hit the knife in the mass's hand. He heard a sudden intake of air as the mass dove forward, Reid yelling out to Morgan, only getting out the first syllable before he felt his body being pushed back. He reached out, trying desperately to grab the railing as his body hit nothing but air. He missed.

His body tumbled down the old stairs, his shoulder smacking loudly against the second to last step. His body then hit the floor with a loud thump, his head bouncing from the impact. The last thought before he blacked out was the sudden onslaught of pain burning in his shoulder.


	18. Chapter Eighteen

**_12:35 pm - Coltan's Farm_ **

"Freeze!" Morgan screamed angrily at the figure that hovered over Reid. Morgan quickly recognized the man as Andre, his chest heaving quickly in anger. Andre looked up and Morgan could see the sheer panic in his eyes. Morgan looked Andre up and down, his mind quickly sizing up the man in front of him. Andre was about his height though that was where their similarities stopped. The man in front of him looked as though he hadn't slept in weeks; his hair was unkempt, his face covered in a week of stubble. He was slightly overweight though it was hard to tell because of the baggy, wrinkly clothes that he was wearing. His dark brown eyes shifted uncomfortably back and forth between Reid and Morgan, never truly focusing on either of them. He slowly grabbed the radio on his hip, pressing the talk button. "We need back-up." His voice calm and unwavering as he spoke. He brought his hand away from the hip and back on his gun, aiming it directly at Andre.

"Put the knife down Mr. Coltan. You don't want to hurt him." Andre held the knife near Reid's throat as the agent lay unconscious on the floor. The sharpened blade hovered dangerously close to Reid's long neck, the metal reflecting a small spot of light onto the pale skin.

"Why couldn't you leave this alone?" Andre said with a sob caught in his throat, his hands beginning to shake.

"Andre, you killed four people. You know that's wrong." Morgan said calmly, taking a step closer to him.

"It was almost done. I swear. Ju-just two more, please. The-they needed to be punished. They killed my baby. Why didn't you arrest them?!" Andre screamed, clutching the knife so tightly that his knuckles began to turn white. Morgan watched tensely as tears started to form in the corners of his eyes, one finally slipping down his cheek.

"Killing those doctors is not going to bring Jeremy back. You know that Andre."

"I know. I know! I just…" Andre began breathing harder and faster, trying to hold his tears in. Morgan wished that Reid would just wake up and take over; he was always better at talking unsubs down.

"Andre. Please. The agent at your feet did nothing to hurt Jeremy. Just put the knife down. Would Jeremy want you to hurt an innocent person? In his name?"

"N-no. But…" Andre's tears began pouring faster down his cheeks, a sob escaping his lips. He shook his head and covered his eyes with his dark, calloused hands. He gripped the knife tighter, his knuckles turning white. Morgan took another step forward now that the knife was away from Reid.

"Drop the knife, Andre. Please. For Jeremy." Andre nodded slowly, dropping the knife with a loud smack just shy of Reid's ear.

"I'm sorry Andre." Morgan said softly as he walked behind him, gently pulling his hands behind his back. "I really am."

Morgan looked over at Reid who still hadn't woken up as he secured the handcuffs around Andre. He heard Hotch yelling his name behind him and looked up to see his boss with Rossi close behind. As they came to the two agents Rossi took Andre's arm while Hotch fell to his knees by Reid's head. Rossi pushed Andre towards the door towards the police car parked outside the large farm.

"Reid, Reid wake up." Hotch tapped his cheek gently as Morgan knelt across from him. Morgan reached underneath Reid's head, thankful when he pulled his hand away clean. No blood.

"His shoulder is out of the socket." Hotch said, standing up from his spot. "And he probably has a concussion."

"Damn it kid..." Morgan muttered under his breath with a shake of his head.

"Ambulance has been called and is on the way" Rossi's voice boomed from the hallway, his hands now free of Andre.

"I don't…need…a hospital." Morgan and Hotch looked down at Reid, who's eyes were scrunched closed tightly in pain. His breathing hitched as searing pain radiated down his left arm.

"Thank god. You're awake." Morgan let out a sigh of relief, closing his eyes gently as he placed a comforting hand on Reid's good shoulder.

"I feel sick." Reid mumbled, turning his head to the side. He began blinking rapidly, attempting to get his vision to clear up, the edges growing fuzzy with each passing second. Hotch quickly made his way into the old bathroom and grabbed the thankfully empty garbage bin. Morgan slowly pulled Reid up, resting Reid's back against his chest so he was sitting up. Reid closed his eyes and a took a shaky breath in.

"No closing your eyes Pretty boy." Morgan said, taping his friend's cheek.

"Mmm...know...Gonna...sick." Reid mumbled out as he face turned a sickly yellow color. Morgan pushed the bin under Reid's chin and used his other hand to pull his friend's hair away from his face. Reid's stomach successfully emptied itself, leaving Reid with a splitting headache and more pain in his jarred shoulder. "Ow" he moaned out, leaning back into Morgan. He looked up at his friend but instantly regretted it, squeezing his eyes closed as his friend's face spun above him. He heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs, his mind struggling to determine who was coming towards him. He felt Morgan gently pulling him up as the EMTs entered the room. Now he remembered. "I'mmmmm…fine." He slurred out through gritted teeth as another wave of nausea hit him.

"Bullshit." Morgan said as he helped lay Reid on the gurney. "You just puked and your shoulder looks beyond busted. You're going to the hospital and you have no choice. Now shut up and stop complaining."


	19. Chapter Nineteen

**_4:00pm - Local Hospital_ **

Reid walked out of the examination room with his left arm in a sling to hold his shoulder. He could already feel the bruise blooming across his shoulder and the muscle spasming around the socket. He knew it would be sore for a few days but he had no intentions of keeping the sling on after he left the hospital. When he finally reached the waiting room he was greeted by the tired faces of Morgan and Hotch. He took the small packet of papers that were clutched in his right hand and dropped them into Morgan's lap.

"So, I'm guessing we're waking you up every three hours?" Morgan asked with a smile as he flipped carelessly through the papers. Reid let out an angry grunt, not really in the mood to talk to Morgan. His headache was worse than before but he wasn't sure if it was because of the concussion or from arguing with the doctors to let him leave. Either way all he knew was that he wanted to do was sleep.

"Are you ready to go home?" Morgan asked as he and Hotch stood up, leading the way to the waiting SUV.

"You've been cleared to fly, right?" Hotch asked quickly before opening the car door. Reid nodded lazily, sliding into the seat silently. He instantly regretted not making a verbal response. He could have sworn the nod had made his brain bounce back and forth against his skull. He moaned softly and plastered his head against the cold glass of the window. "The rest of the team is waiting at the airstrip. Let's go." With that Hotch turned the car on and began driving towards the airport. Two minutes after the engine turned over Reid was asleep in the seat.

Hotch and Morgan rode in comfortable silence till the car came to stop as close to the jet as possible. Morgan quickly jumping out of the car and walked to the back to their bags. "I'll get the bags; you deal with Reid." Hotch said quietly, beating Morgan to the trunk and grabbing the bags.

"Sure, you get the easy job." Morgan rolled his eyes before opening the passenger door, quickly sliding his hand against Reid's good shoulder before he had time to fall out of the seat. "Time to wake up Reid."

Reid groaned and slowly opened his eyes. "Wha' happ'n to t'ree hours?" Reid slurred out in his tired state, leaning his right side heavily on Morgan. "We'll let you sleep real soon. We need to get you to the plane." Morgan walked his friend up the stairs of the jet as Hotch followed behind. He moved Reid over to the couch, helping him lay down slowly. He grabbed a pillow and placed it under Reid's head. Reid let out a sigh, shifting in an attempt to find a comfortable position for his sore shoulder.

"Oh Reid!" Garica muttered, walking over and throwing a thin blanket over him.

"Just t'red…'nd sore." Reid mumbled, cuddling into the blanket. He felt himself drifting off to sleep as the plane slowly ascended. Reid's breathing quickly evened out and his soft snores filled the quiet cabin.

"Did anyone think to call Sophia and let her know what was going on with Reid?" JJ asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

Morgan nodded. "Reid called her. She's going to take a taxi down to the airstrip and drive Reid home."

"How'd she sound?" Prentiss asked.

"Better than I would have been. She yelled had him for about ten minutes before she finally let Reid explain what happened." Morgan pulled his iPod and headphones out of his pocket. "Poor Reid's gonna have a long night ahead of him."

"Oh! Morgan, wait!" JJ said suddenly in excitement. Morgan hung his headphones on his shoulders and glanced at JJ.

"Saturday is the 4th of July. Will wants to take Henry to the park for a BBQ and to see the fireworks. And you're all coming whether you like it or not." JJ said, no room for argument in her voice.

Morgan laughed, shaking his head. "I think we've all learned not to ague with you JJ."

"I'll give Reid a heads up when he wakes up." With that Morgan pulled his headphones back up and let his head rest against the back of the seat.


	20. Chapter Twenty

6:00pm - Washington DC

"We're going to be landing in twenty minutes, give Sophia and call so she can meet us at the airstrip." Hotch's voice boomed throughout the quiet plane and still Reid didn't budge. Morgan nodded quickly and dug out his phone.

"Hi Derek." Sophia didn't sound as thrilled or excited as she normally did whenever Morgan called.

"Hey. We'll be landing in twenty so-"

"I'm already here."

"Oh...Okay." He paused before smiling, deciding to take a good jab at her like he normally would. "Miss him that much already? And I here I thought you'd take advantage of your Reid-free week."

"Morgan." The voice quickly told Morgan the humor wasn't welcome and the use of his last name simply reiterated that. "I just want him home. In one piece."

"Don't worry Sophia, he's had worse." The second the words escaped his lips he was regretting them. Why he attempted to keep the obviously unwanted humor, he wasn't quite sure, and the daggers he was receiving from the rest of the team as they listened wasn't help to ease his now panicked mind.

"You know, it's not really something I want to hear. You don't need to joke around and play down his injurise; we're not breaking up and this isn't going to come between us. I'm mad and pissed off but I'll get over it. I just want him home."

Morgan wasn't sure how to respond. Subconsciously that was exactly what he was thinking. The last time Reid was injured, his poor knee, the two of them were only dating. it wasn't serious enough for Sophia to get upset and become super protective or even dote over him. This was a first, new territory. And Morgan, along with just about everyone else, knew how uncomfortable Reid was with anything that could even be remotely defined as "new." In Morgan's mind, even though the injuries were minor considering how worse they could have been and considering how worse they have been in this job, this event was still an obstacle to get over. And how they deal with something so minor truly reflects how they'll deal with something worse.

"Are you sure you're not a profiler?" Morgan let out a small laugh, hoping this time his humor wouldn't be frowned upon.

He could hear the smirk in her voice as she responded; "Writer and profilers are so easily interchangable."

"Ouch Sophia. Real cold. But in all seriousness, are you guys okay?"

Yeah. I got the angry, yelling stage out of the way back at the hospital. Spencer should be gratefully it was through the phone. Just...give us 24 hours of peace and quiet and everything will be fine."

"Got it. Oh! We're all meeting at the park this Saturday for a BBQ anad fireworks. JJ says you're mandated to come." JJ smacked Morgan's arm from her seat, glaring at him yet again.

"Tell JJ I'll bring fruit salad and some drinks. I'll see you is a few."

The plane began to descend, a quiet filling the cabin till the wheels finally hit the asphalt.

Morgan began nuding his good shoulder. "Tiem to go home sleeping beauty." Reid grumbled something unintellgiable and buried his head deeper into the pillow. "Nope. Wakey wakey." Reid refused to move and Morgan forcefully, and gently, sat him up. "Wake up or I'm carrying you like a damsel in distress all the way to Sophia." Reid quickly began blinking his eyes then began to rub away the fog that had settled.

"I'm awake." Reid stood up quickly, readjusting his sling. "Can I have my bag?" He seemed almost nervous, his words all jumbled together, running to get out of his mouth.

"Calm down Reid. Sophia knows your shoulder is sore, you don't need to prove that you're okay."

"Yeah but-"

"And she's not mad at you." Morgan began leading Reid down the stairs. "She just misses you and wants you home. Enjoy it while it lassts. Milk it for all it's worth." Reid looked at him, a look of utter confusion on his face. "You're hurt. You're girlfriend is going to pamper you and wait on you. She's going to want to make sure you're okay. Maybe even some life-affirming sex." Morgan winked at Reid.

"Get your mind out of the gutter. ANd stop being so damn fixated on Sophia's and my physical relationship." Reid grumbled before looking up from his feet. He hadn't even realized that he had made it to the parking lot or that he was standing directly infront of Sophia, looking into her bemused though confused eyes.

"Way to make me look bad in front of Sophia." Morgan opened the back door of Reid's old VW and threw his go-bag and satchel on the seat. "Take care of our Pretty Boy. And see you guys Saturday." Morgan leaned over and kissed Sophia on the cheek before reaching over and ruffling Reid's already messy hair.

"Let's go home." Reid groaned before lowering himself into the car.


	21. Chapter Twenty One

**_8:00pm - Washington D.C._ **

The ride back to their apartment was relatively quiet except for the soft rumble of the engine. By the time they pulled into the parking lot both were unsure how to say what was on their minds. So instead they walked up the stairs and down the hallway in complete silence. When Sophia and Reid finally made their way into the living-room, Reid was confused by the lack of greeting. He glanced around the floor, expecting to see fur-balls running around his feet.

"They're in the office. I moved their tower and litter box in there. You know them; that poor sling would be destroyed in seconds." Reid smiled at Sophia's words, comforted more by the softness of them then the actual words. He was expecting her to be upset, angry, annoyed, everything but content. And that's exactly what she looked like. She pulled his go-bag higher up on her shoulder and made her way to their bedroom, unzipping the bag as she went.

Reid followed her into the bedroom and gently closed the door behind him, leaning his body up against the door, more so because he wasn't really sure what do to than him actually needing to rest. Sophia turned away from the hamper and looked at Reid. His shoes had been kicked off already, his tie hung loose around his neck and the first two buttons of his shirt were undone. These, along with his mussed hair, made him look completely debauched and made Sophia smile brightly as an idea began to formulate in her head.

"Your shoulder still bothering you?" She asked innocently, sauntering up to Reid. She stared at him as she asked the honest question, wondering whether or not his mind was going where hers was. She told herself not to push it if it wasn't but the other part of her couldn't stop thinking about how much she missed him, how scared she was when she got that phone call, how much she desperately wanted to hold him and never let go.

"Yes but I can't take anything for another hour." Reid readjusted his sling yet again, suddenly becoming aware of how close Sophia had gotten.

"I know a fantastic home-remedy. No meds needed. It's been used for years." She guided Reid to the armchair in the corner of the room, pushing gently on his good shoulder till he finally sat down. Sophia placed her hands on either arm-rest and leaned down, meeting Reid's eyes. His pupils were dilated and she could hear his breathing speeding up. Yep. He was thinking the same thing.

She placed a soft kiss on his lips before pushing against his chest with one hand, the other making quick work of his belt.

"Sophia you don't-" He was cut off by her lips, the kiss more intense this time. Her lips melded perfectly with his, making Reid's heart race. "I was so worried." She whispered against his mouth. He reached his tongue out, swiping it slowly across her bottom lip, asking for entrance. His tongue moved quickly against hers, mapping every inch of her mouth like his life depended on knowing it's every detail, every ridge. Reid swallowed the moan the formed in Sophia's mouth, pulling her body closer to his. Sophia eventually pulled away and smiled triumphantly, looking down at Reid's lap. While kissing she had managed to get his pants and boxers off completely, his cock getting harder the second the cold air hit his heated skin and her eyes landing hotly on it.

She leaned forward and wrapped her hand loosely around his cock, spreading the pre-cum along the length. She looked up into Reid's eyes and without breaking eye contact ran her tongue flat up the underside of his cock, pulling away before she touched the head.

"FUCK!" Reid yelled, violently bucking his hips forward. He stared down at Sophia through hooded eyes, his cheeks flushed and fingers digging into the soft leather of the chair. Sophia began placing little kitten licks up the entire length, her hands squeezing and pulling when she saw fit. Reid let his eyes close in pleasure. "Oh god...don't stop."

Sophia suddenly took his head into her mouth, sucking loudly on the sensitive flesh. Reid let out a moan, throwing his head back, all while desperately trying to control his hips from jutting up. "Fuck...Sophia! Nnnnghh..." She let out a hum of approval, sending waves of ecstasy throughout his body before swirling her tongue slowly around the head. The process of forming words, let alone sentences, was being completely wiped from Reid's mind. He knew he was babbling incoherent words, most of which sounded like "yes," "fuck" and "so good" but he really didn't care. Sophia had turned him into a bumbling mess and he was enjoying every second of it.

Sophia teased his slit, watching intently as his whole body shook in pleasure, his muscles tensing slightly. She could see him struggling to keep his hips down and couldn't help but smirk as she saw what she was doing to him. She hollowed out her cheeks and took as much of him as possible into her mouth, relaxing her muscles. She placed her hands on his tights, urging him to stop squirming and arching.

As soon as Reid stopped moving Sophia began bobbing up and down faster, contracting her throat and tightening her lips every few seconds. She couldn't stop the smile that was forming on her lips as she listened to the wanton groan escaping Reid's parted lips. She knew he was close as she watched him; his head resting on the chair, his cheeks flushed, lips parted and deep red from his biting, his knuckles white as his nails left indents in the arms of the chair. So very close.

She quickened up her movements, sucking him obscenely louder, the wet sounds echoing in the heated room.

"S-s-so-phia...I...I'm..." Reid's words fell off with a strangled gasp before coming in great spurts.

Sophia continued to move slowly as she waited for him to relax, only then letting go of Reid and standing up. Reid willed his heavy to finally open, taking in his surroundings. He felt like he had melted into the chair, his limbs like jello as a warm, blissful haze hovered over him. He reached his arm out and grabbed Sophia's hand, gently pulling her closer. Sophia smiled and shook her head. She pulled harder and Reid, in no position to resist, slowly raised himself out of the chair. She finished unbuttoning his shirt and removed his sling before gently pushing the dress shirt onto the floor. She led Reid to their bed, not saying a word. She walked him back till he sat down on the bed. He reached forward and tugged Sophia closer, settling her between his knees. She smiled down at him, a look of perfect contentment on her face.

"How does your head feel?" She ran her fingers slowly through his hair, letting her finger nails gently scrap against his scalp. Reid's eyes fluttered closed at the soothing sensation.

"Hmmm?" He finally managed to say after a few seconds.

"Your head Spencer. How are you feeling?"

"Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic." Sophia leaned in closer, kissing his forehead gently. She pushed Reid's hair out of his face, cupping his cheek with her left hand. She rubbed her thumb across his cheek gently.

"You need to sleep." She said softly and walked over to the dresser. She pulled out a pair of sleeping pants and helped Reid pull them on. When he finished she turned around and took a step towards the door.

"Where are you going? It's late, aren't you going to bed?" Reid stood up quickly, ready to follow Sophia out.

"Oh, well, I was going to, uhm, clean up a little and then the boys-" She stopped as Reid stepped up to her. He reached forward and unbuttoned her jeans.

"I'm not going to get hurt if you sleep with me. Come to bed...Please." He pushed her jeans off her hips, not waiting for her answer. Sophia stepped out of them, having no desire, or want, to argue with Reid. Reid pulled her blouse over her head and quickly unclasped her bra. "Besides, you have to wake me up in three hours anyway."

Sophia rolled her eyes and walked over to the dresser, pulling out one of Reid's t-shirts. She pulled it over her head but before she had a chance to pull it down across her midsection she felt Reid's hands on her hips, his fingers rubbing the skin above the band of her underwear.

"Spencer." Her voice was quiet, almost a whisper. She turned around in Reid's hands, letting go of her shirt. She pulled away and rested her cheek against his bare chest. "I was so scared." She pressed into him, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist, burying her head in his chest. "It hurts so much, knowing that you're always putting yourself in danger and never knowing when you'll come back injured, bleeding...or worse...what if you don't come back at all." Her sobs began to fill the room as everything seemed to become too much. The tension had built and the string had finally snapped.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Reid whispered over and over again into Sophia's head.

"I-I know I'm being r-ridiculous and it's just a concussion but m-m-my mind keeps running away. W-what if it was w-w-worse?" She managed to eek out between sobs that made her whole body shake.

"It wasn't worse. And you're not being ridiculous. I scared you and I'm sorry for doing that. And I promise I will never do that again. I won't leave you, Sophia."

"You c-can't promise t-that."

"Yes I can. I love you too much to die." Reid knew that what he said made no sense. Love had no say over the mortality of humans or whether or not a case would lead to someone getting hurt or killed. But for the first time in his life, he really didn't care that it didn't quite make sense. It was the truth. It was right. And Sophia seemed to agree. "Let's go to bed."


	22. Chapter Twenty Two

**_Saturday- Reid's apartment_ **

Sophia opened the front door, stepping into the apartment with a small shopping bag in her hand. "Spencer?' She yelled as she placed the bag down on the counter and turned to open the fridge, pulling out a large bowl of cut-up fruit. She left the plastic bag on the counter as she turned to wash the container of blueberries that she had just bought. She sighed as she heard the bag rustling consistently, and rather loudly, behind her. "Boys get out of the bag!" She turned and starting laughing as she saw Watson's head sticking out of the handle, both his back legs tucked neatly in the bag.

"MEOW!" Watson let out, an air of triumph held in the loud meow, his lips pulled back slightly almost in a smile. Sophia walked forward rubbing Watson's forehead a few times, listening as he purred contently. She pulled the bag back, pushing Watson off the counter.

'Hey. You get the blueberries you so desperately needed?" Reid asked as he walked into the room, Sherlock tucked under his arm. He put the cat down as he stepped up to the counter.

"Shut up. Are you ready to leave?" Sophia tossed the blueberries into the bowl before snapping it closed. She looked up from the bowl, "Where is your sling?" she snipped.

"I'm not wearing it. My shoulder feels so much better after yesterday." Reid walked around the counter and wrapped his arms around her waist. He leaned forward and kissed her slowly, pulling her closer and closer with each second. He threw every ounce of love that he felt for Sophia into the kiss. When he pulled away Sophia unconsciously followed. He took that split second where she was completely stunned to really get a good look at her; her lips were parted and her breaths came out heavy and quickly. Her eyes were closed, her cheeks flushed and lips swollen. Sophia opened her eyes slowly, instantly look into Reid's dilated eyes. She knew if they kept going they would be beyond acceptably late to dinner.

"Uhm..." She blushed harder. "We should go now...before, uhm...before we're late." He felt proud that he could still rendered his girlfriend into a bumbling mess.

"Okay." He cleared his throat as he realized how hoarse his voice sounded. Sophia nodded, grabbing the pack of beer out of the fridge, holding it in one hand and the fruit salad in the other.

"I can carry som-"

"Nope." Sophia smirked as she followed Reid out the door, locking it quickly behind her.

************************************************************************************

**_Saturday- Park_ **

Dinner was surprisingly uneventful; burgers and hot dogs cooked to perfection, homemade potato salad, and more bags of chips than was completely necessary. The sky was darkening quickly, in a few minutes the fireworks would start.

Reid felt his palms sweating more than what he thought was possible. He glanced around the park at his friends. Morgan was sitting at a picnic table with Garcia and Rossi playing poker. JJ and Henry were sitting on a lawn chair, preparing themselves for the fireworks. Hotch, Prentiss and Will were standing near the grill they had used, talking about something specifically non-work related.

Reid lay in the grass next to the chess table that he and Sophia were sitting at a few minutes ago. Sophia pressed herself against him, staring at the sky. He watched her face light up as the first firework finally filled the night sky, the bright sparkles hitting every angle of her face with perfection. Everyone fell into a comfortable silence, their eyes all glued to the bright colors that danced and flashed across the sky.

Sophia was smiling widely and Reid could see the reflection of the fireworks in her eyes, the white and red bursts of color shining over her face. It was at that moment that he knew everything was the way it was supposed to be. Everything was perfect. Everything, and everyone, was right where they belonged.

Reid decided exactly what he was going to do. He rolled over so that he was hovering over Sophia, blocking her view of the firework.

"Hmm? I'm thinking this might be a better view." She said with a giggle, wrapping her arms around Reid's neck. She pulled Reid down and kissed him slowly, savouring the feeling of his body against hers. She quickly opened her mouth, moaning as Reid's tongue began slowly mapping every inch. She unconsciously arches into his body, quickly wanting so much more. They pulled away when they heard whistles from the behind them and JJ yelling something along the line of "keep it PG."

Reid laughed and reached forward to tuck her hair behind her ear. "I love you Sophia."

"I love you too Spencer." She kissed him quickly again, smiling up at him.

Reid cleared his throat, and rested his forehead on Sophia's. "Sophia. I, uhm, I just..." He paused and took a breath, completely unaware of the fact that everyone had fallen silent. "God this is a lot harder than I thought." Reid huffed, closing his eyes.

"Whatever you want to say, you know you can tell me anything, right?"

Reid opened his eyes and looked at Sophia. He felt his heart swell as she looked up at him with such trust and love. His heart began racing and he reached into his pocket, finally sure that what he was doing was right. "Sophia, will you marry me?"

He opened the ring box in his hand, tilting so that Sophia could see the ring. Her hands flew up to her mouth, her eyes as wide as saucers.

"Oh my god!" She screamed, grabbing everyone's attention. She bolted up, Reid having to quickly move up with her to avoid a head-on collision.

She gasped and looked up at Reid, her hands falling away from her mouth. Reid could see that although her mouth was still hanging practically unhinged there was a huge smile that travelled up to her eyes that were now moist with tears.

"Oh my god." She whispered again.

"Sophia?"

She launched herself forward, wrapping her arms tightly around Reid's body. She buried her head in his shoulder and Reid could feel a few tears soaking into his shirt. She nuzzled her nose into the side of Reid's neck, right below his ear and whispered softly.

"Yes."

Reid gripped her tighter, burying his face in her hair.

"I love you, Sophia, more than anyone can imagine."

He slowly pulled away from her, grabbing the forgotten box that had fallen to the ground. He pulled out the ring and slid it on her finger, smiling as she wrapped her hand around his.

Suddenly the park was full of whistling and clapping. Sophia, with her arms wrapped around Reid and her head lying on his chest, looked up at Reid's coworkers and began blushing from the sudden attention. She tucked her head down slightly into Reid's chest, letting her hair fall to cover her face. Reid pulled both up and walked over to the grill where the team was now standing together.

"Congratulations." Morgan said, stepping up to hug Reid. Morgan practically squeezed the air out of Reid's lungs before finally letting go, taking a step back. He look in Reid's beaming face and could hear the giddy laughter coming from Sophia behind him. Any doubt completely erased from his mind.


End file.
